The History of Coffee

What is Coffee?

Coffee, as defined by the dictionary, is a tropical evergreen shrub whose beanlike seeds are roasted and ground to produce a drink of the same name. Most coffee drinkers appreciate the drink but know little about the shrub from which it is produced. To truly appreciate the drink, it is important to look at where coffee came from and how it developed into the popular drink that it is today.

The Legendary Origin of Coffee

The history of coffee begins with a legend. The legend begins in c850 Ethiopia with a goat herder named Kaldi. The legend says that Kaldi was watching his goats as usual when he noticed they were acting strange, dashing around the fields and seeming "friskier." This behavior went on for some time. Kaldi began to speculate that it might be something they had eaten,so he followed them.

Kaldi noticed that the goats had eaten some red berries from a shrub. He ate them himself and was soon frolicking with the goats. After this part of the story, the legend has some variation. Either:

Kalid reported his findings to a local monk who ate the beans, or a monk walked by and saw Kaldi with the goats. The monk then took some of the berries to show to his brothers. They all ate the beans and found divine inspiration.

The Real History of Coffee

Legendary tales tend to be much more colorful that real history. Legends,however, do contain certain elements of the truth. The truth is that coffee did come from Ethiopia, as evidence by the fact that coffee grows wild there to this day. It was not until coffee made it to the Arabian Peninsula in c1100, however, that the real history of coffee began.

Arabs were the first people to cultivate coffee. The Arabian climate is particularly good for cultivating coffee, so the Arabs were able to cultivate the plant quite well.

The reason for coffee's popularity in Arabia is not known exactly, but religion most likely played the crucial role. Arabs, who were Muslims, were forbidden to drink alcohol. Sources from the time note that many Arabs enjoyed the "exhilarating" effects of coffee.

The effects if the caffeine in coffee fit in well with the daily lives of Muslims. They prayed five times a day, and coffee helped to keep them awake. It is worth noting that the legend stated that it was a monk who shared coffee for the first time. Rather than this being a literal story, it could be interpreted as a metaphor for the important role coffee played in religion.

As demand for coffee grew, coffeehouses sprung up in Arabia. Coffee was drunk in coffeehouses and became the social drink of choice for Arabs.

With the spread of Islam and the Arab Empire, so too spread coffee. Arab traders traded coffee wherever they could. Europeans started hearing word of a wondrous drink from the East. By the 17th century, coffee had made its way to Europe. By the mid-17th century, coffee had become a popular drink in Europe.

In the New World, tea was preferred. The Boston Tea Party changed all that. From then on, coffee became the preferred drink of Americans.

Coffee is now popular all over the world. Over 400 billion cups of coffee are drunk a day. Today, coffee is a commodity second only to oil.