The History of Coffee
The story of how coffee growing and drinking spread around the world is one of the greatest and most romantic in history. It starts in the Horn of Africa, in Ethiopia, where the coffee tree probably originated in the province of Kaffa. There are various fanciful but unlikely stories surrounding the discovery of the properties of roasted coffee beans. One story has it that an Ethiopian goatherd by the name of Kaldi was amazed at the lively behaviour of his goats after chewing red coffee berries. He tried a few of the berries himself and was soon dancing with his goats.
According to the legend, a monk noticed Kaldi’s behavior and took some of the new coffee to share with his monastery brothers. They were equally affected by the beans and ascended to new “highs” of spiritual enlightenment.
What we know with more certainty is that the succulent outer cherry flesh was eaten by slaves taken from present day Sudan into Yemen and Arabia, through the great port of its day, Mocha, now synonymous with coffee. Coffee was certainly being cultivated in Yemen by the 15th century and probably much earlier than that.
Information in this post is from International Coffee Organization
