RUSSIA ADOPTS COFFEE-DRINKING FROM OTTOMAN EMPIRE...
In the 15th century, Russia and Turkey first exchanged ambassadors. Returning home, the diplomats brought with them the best traditions and intrinsic, inborn objects and food. That’s how coffee found its way to Russia. Although there is archaeological evidence showing coffee was consumed by the Russian nobility in the 15th century, the first record of consumption dates back to 1665, when Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was prescribed to take it as a medicine for headache. “Brewed coffee, consumed by the Persians and Turks, and usually after dinner, is a fair medicine for bloating, runny noses and headaches,” according to historian Samuel Collins. Russia then had neither trade nor diplomatic relations with any coffee-consuming countries other than the Ottoman Empire, so the beverage could get to the monarchal table only from the Ottoman Empire. Alexei Mikhailovich’s son, known as the first Russian Emperor Peter the Great, was a big fan of coffee. He was believed to have gotten a...