The History of Coffee
The history of coffee dates back to the 15th century although the definitive origins of this popular drink remain unclear. One theory is that Ethiopian ancestors of today’s Oromo people discovered and recognized the energizing effect of the coffee bean plant. But we don’t know where in Africa coffee grew or who among the natives utilized it as a stimulant or knew about it earlier than the 17th century.
There are several legends about the origin of coffee. One involves the Yemenite Sufi mystic Shaikh ash-Shadhili. It is said that while traveling in Ethiopia, he noticed goats that had unusual vitality. He attributed this to the berries that the goats had eaten after trying them himself.
Another “Legend of Dancing Goats” tells us that coffee was discovered by an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi. He supposedly found his goats dancing joyously near a dark green leafed shrub with bright red cherries in the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Like Shadhili, Kaldi learned this was due to the stimulating effects of the cherries on the shrub. After ingesting the cherries, he experienced their powerful effect. The same berries were later used by monks at a local monastery to stay awake during long hours of prayer. They distributed this to other monasteries all over the world and coffee was born.
From Ethiopia, coffee reportedly spread to Egypt and Yemen. The earliest credible evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree appeared in the middle of the 15th century in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen. It was here that coffee beans were first roasted and brewed, similar to how it is prepared today. By the 16th century, coffee reached the rest of the Middle East, Persia, Turkey, and northern Africa. It also spread to Italy and to the rest of Europe, Indonesia and the Americas. Looking for the finest coffee in the world?
