History of Coffee

The history and development of the beverage that we know as coffee is varied and interesting, involving chance occurrences, political intrigue, and the pursuit of wealth and power.

According to one story, the effect of coffee beans on behavior was noticed by a sheep herder from Caffa Ethopia named Kaldi as he tended his sheep. He noticed that the sheep became frisky after eating the red "cherries" from a certain plant. He tried a few himself, and was also overcome with happiness .

There are a couple of different accounts of what happened next. One version of events is that a learned man from a local town named Aucuba came by, he was sleepy, tired, and hungry. Aucuba saw Kaldi acting wildly. He saw the goats acting wildly too. Because he was hungry he tried the berries. He became wide awake and was instantly ready to keep traveling. He took some berries back to his town and used it with other foods. He mixed the berries with drinks at his monastery which kept people awake during prayer. It then spread to other towns and monasteries. Aucuba became a rich man. No one knows what happen to Kaldi.

Another version of the same story is that Kaldi took the "magic" berries to a nearby monastery where the Abbot believed them to be the work of the devil, threw them into the fire. This released such an aroma that the beans were quickly rescued from the flames and the monks eventually learned how to make the hot black beverage we know today. The monks considered coffee as a gift from God because it kept parishioners awake during prayers. Hallelujah!!

Another legend gives us the name for coffee or "mocha." An Arabian was banished to the desert with his followers to die of starvation. In desperation, Omar had his friends boil and eat the fruit from an unknown plant. Not only did the broth save the exiles, but their survival was taken as a religious sign by the residents of the nearest town, Mocha. The plant and its beverage were named Mocha to honor this event.

Originally the coffee plant grew naturally in Ethopia, but once transplanted in Arabia was monopolized by them. One early use for coffee would have little appeal today. The Galla tribe from Ethiopia used coffee, but not as a drink. They would wrap the beans in animal fat as their only source of nutrition while on raiding parties. The Turks were the first country to adopt it as a drink, often adding spices such as clove, cinnamon, cardamom and anise to the brew.

Coffee was introduced much later to countries beyond Arabia whose inhabitants believed it to be a delicacy and guarded its secret as if they were top secret military plans. Transportation of the plant out of the Moslem nations was forbidden by the government. The actual spread of coffee was started illegally. One Arab named Baba Budan smuggled beans to some mountains near Mysore, India, and started a farm there. Early in this century, the descendants of those original plants were found still growing fruitfully in the region.

Coffee was believed by some Christians to be the devil's drink, because it came from Muslim countries. Pope Vincent III heard this and decided to taste it before he banished it. He enjoyed it so much he baptized it, saying "coffee is so delicious it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it." Coffee today is grown and enjoyed worldwide.