Legend of Coffee

So, as it was told to me I tell you; the Legend of Coffee.

Coffee was first discovered around 800AD in the Horn of Africa, by a goatherd named Kaldi. One day he noticed his goats were behaving strangely and acting more excited than usual . Upon closer examination he discovered that they had been eating small “red berries” from a nearby bush. He too tried these weird berries and found they had the same effect on him!

One day a passing monk inquired of Kaldi why his goats were behaving strangely. Kaldi shared with the monk the secret of the red berries and helped him collect some to take back to his monastery. At his monastery the monk tried the berries for himself. After finding himself more awake and alert he tried crushing some of the berries in a cup and adding hot water to make a drink, Viola! The first cup of coffee had been created.

Although coffee was first discovered in Africa, the actual name of coffee is derived from an Arabic word “Qahwah” which means “plant beverage”. It wasn’t until much later that the drink was introduced to the rest of the world.

There are many varying versions of how coffee was introduced to the rest of the world, but the one I was told is as follows.

Arab slavers operating in Africa soon realised the potential of this exciting new beverage. They continued to grow and roast coffee in Africa after which they would ship the finished roasted coffee to their markets back in Arabia, and to ports such as Zanzibar. As no Europeans were allowed into that part of Africa at the time, the Arab states controlled the coffee supply to the rest of the world.

Much later a European sailor escaped from slavery on one of the coffee plantations. He took with him some coffee plant seedlings which he managed to keep alive on the long voyage to Java, or Indonesia as it is called today. There he was able to cultivate them and once the coffee had propagated sufficiently, he took some seedlings home to Europe.

The rest is history.

Today, most people see coffee as more of a lifestyle product rather than the simple beverage that it was ten years ago. Coffee has gone from a humble breakfast brew to become the growth engine fueling the burgeoning “café society” in our cities today.

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