The Invention Of Coffee

Coffee – a delicious and precious beverage that has become an essential part of our daily lives! Who do we have to thank for this wonderful, caffeinating, miracle liquid? Where does coffee come from and who was the first person to figure it out/”invent” it?

I have the answer for you – well, sort of…

The long and short of is its, there are numerous myths out there about how and when coffee was discovered. The one thing that seems to be consistently agreed upon though, is coffee was discovered centuries ago in Ethiopia. As for how it was discovered, the most accepted legend begins with a goat herder from Kaffa Ethiopia, in the 9th century named Kaldi.

According to the story, Kaldi noticed over time that his goats were not sleeping at night. Puzzled by this, he began to observe them more closely throughout the daytime. One day he noticed his goats were particularly loud and rambunctious – odd for his heard – after eating a bunch of berries from a certain bush nearby. The berries were bright red and unlike anything the herder had seen before, (a coffee bean comes from a coffee cherry, so it makes sense). Curious about the berries, Kaldi decided to try a few for himself. It was then he noticed a stimulated increase of energy in himself!

Excited by his discovery and thinking these berries must be “heaven sent”, Kaldi decided to share his newfound source of energy. So he brought the berries to a group of monks at a monastery nearby. The story differs at this point. Some say the monks took these berries and immediately brewed them into a drink, thinking it would help to keep them more alert during their evening prayers. Others say the monks disapproved of Kaldi’s findings altogether and threw the berries into the fire to destroy them.

In this rendition, the fire then “burned” the berries, and the smell of roasting “coffee” enticed the monks enough for them to scoop up the remnants of the berries, (now just the seeds – e.g. coffee beans), grind them down and pour them into hot water, brewing them into a sort of tea. Upon drinking said “tea”, the monks were elated and made the drink consistently, thereafter, working it into their religious practices.

From there the news about the drink spread throughout the world, gaining popularity, until it eventual became known as “coffee”! And that is how the drink we know as coffee today was created (probably…).

Fun Fact: Ethiopia, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and Vietnam are the top five producers of coffee worldwide!

Fun Fact: Ethiopia, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and Vietnam are the top five producers of coffee worldwide!