History of Coffee: Did Goats Really Discover the Coffee?
“Do you know about the history of coffee and how was coffee discovered?”, Karl, my barista friend asked while pointing to my freshly brewed espresso.
“I guess Africans discovered first coffee while tempering chocolate”, of course, I laugh at my own jokes.
He didn’t look impressed.
“Well, coffee was first discovered in a funny coincidence in Ethiopia – by goats. Then it traveled the world while being smuggled, used as a drug, becoming royalty, and finally becoming the world’s second-most traded commodity after petroleum”, he said.
My jaw dropped…
I felt like Moana, fascinated but equally curious.
Research, discovery, and lots of time in digital libraries left me awestruck with revelations about the history of coffee. You will fall in love with this little journey about the origin of coffee bean because it’s written by a storyteller. Hey, where you lookin’? That storyteller is here!
Where is Coffee From? – The Ethiopian Folklore
Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. When the first coffee was discovered in Ethiopia, the country was known as Abyssinia.
The Legend of Kaldi
According to the Ethiopian Legend, Kaldi was a young goat herder in the 9th century. I can imagine Kaldi, the coffee discoverer, in a long white dress and white head cloth, walking on beautiful green mountains with his herd of goats.
Kaldi’s goats were calm and relaxed, but one day, they started behaving as if they are possessed. At least that’s what Kaldi thought, according to the legend. The goats became very active and mobile, and couldn’t sleep that night. The next day, it was the same story. After a few days of possession on goats, Kaldi finally found what was keeping the goats up. Yes, it’s the same thing that keeps us up – coffee!
Kaldi’s goats were eating leaves of a red berry plant. Kaldi decided to taste that red berry fruit, and the rest is history (here, get the pun).
This is how was coffee discovered. Kaldi was dancing with his goats on the green mountains – happy and content, just like how you feel after the first sip of coffee in the morning.
Where is Coffee From? – The Yemeni Folklore
Wikipedia says that the Legend of Kaldi did not appear in writing until 1671. The Yemeni folklore describes the origin of coffee as a “miraculous drug” in The Legend of Sheikh Omar.
The Legend of Sheikh Hasan Schadheli and Sheikh Omar
Where is coffee from? There is mixed but interesting information about the origins of coffee. But the origin of moccha, also known as moca or moka, dates back to The Legend of Sheikh Omar, in the mountains of Yemen. The chronicle is preserved in Abd-Al-Kadir manuscript. There are two folklores involved here.
First Folklore
Sheikh Abou’l Hasan Schadheli used to travel to different parts of the world and preach his religious teachings. One day, he was traveling through Ethiopia, and he saw some birds that were astoundingly awake. It was unusual to see the birds awake against the circle of nature. So, Sheikh Hasan Schadheli kept an eye on the birds and found that they were eating some red berries.
He brought those berries to Yemen through the Red Sea, and there the roasting and boiling process started.
Second Folklore
Sheikh Omar, a disciple of Sheikh Hasan Schadheli, was popular in Mocha, a Yemeni city, for his healing powers. He was followed by several religious people, recognized as dervish.
One day, Sheikh Omar was exiled from Mocha and sent to a deserted cave without food or anything to drink. This cave is around 90 kilometers east of Zabid, and this is exactly the discovery point of our favorite mocha according to this folklore.
Sheikh Omar was starving and there, he found red berries on a tree. He tasted those berries and felt them too bitter but edible in some form. He boiled those berries and drank that water. It helped him stay awake and energized. The news of his miraculous drink went to Mocha and he was called back home.
When Sheikh Omar came back, he gave mocha drinks to his dervish followers. It helped them stay awake for night prayers. Later, Sheikh Omar included roasting a part of coffee making process.
So, if someone asks how was coffee discovered, you can tell them about The Legend of Sheikh Omar, Sheikh Schadheli, or The Legend of Kaldi.
When Was First Coffee Discovered?
Are you wondering about how long has coffee been around? Almost all folklores date back to the mid-14th century to the 15th century, except the Legend of Kaldi, which dates back to the 9th century.
Where Was Coffee Discovered?
The exact date of the origin of coffee is still unknown. We have different folklores, but not a single date or era, at which everyone would agree. However, a majority of folklores talk about the area around Ethiopia and the Red Sea.
Coffee Goes International
Did you ever think that if coffee had been discovered today, how long would it have taken to reach all parts of the world? I believe, a week? Thanks to social media. However, coffee took centuries to go international and cross the borders back then.
Now that we have an idea about where was coffee first discovered and how was coffee discovered, we will see how coffee traveled the world. It’s a fascinating story of smuggling, using coffee as medicine and drug, restricting coffee to royalties, pricing of good coffee, ownership, and a lot more.
When Was Coffee Invented – The Wine of The Arabia
Coffee is also known as The Wine of The Arabia. By the end of the 15th century, coffee was used as the chatbox. Any gathering became incomplete without coffee. People used to watch sports, discuss business and politics, listen to music, even had their serious arguments over coffee.
The Origin of Coffee Houses – Industrial History of Coffee
The first coffee houses were established in Arabian countries. By the 16th century, coffee had reached Egypt, Syria, and Eastern parts of Turkey. These public houses were called qahveh khaneh, which means a place of having a drink. Qahveh refers to any drink that’s brewed, boiled or steamed in Arabic.
These qahveh khaneh were also called “The School of The Wise”.
Why?
It is because these coffee houses became the center of exchanging information. Coffee was still expansive, and that is why it was accessible to the wise and respected people of the city/town only.
From Mecca to Your Home
Mecca, the place of Muslim pilgrimage, became popular for coffee. Muslims used to visit their pilgrimage city from different parts of the world, and brought coffee beans as souvenirs for friends and families from Mecca.
From coffee discovery in probably Ethiopia, now it was becoming a globally known drink, with the name, “Wine of Arabi” (which means drink of the Arab people).
Coffee Beans Come to India
Baba Budan, the Sufi saint, went on a religious pilgrimage to Mecca in 1670 and brought coffee beans from Yemen on his way back to India. From here, mass production of coffee started in India.
From Arab, Coffee Goes to Europe – European Timeline of the History of Coffee
Smuggled to Netherlands
In the 1600s, coffee came to the Netherlands when the Dutch smuggled coffee from Yemen. Due to unfavorable weather, they didn’t succeed in growing coffee but managed to preserve the seedlings.
Coffee Comes to Italy – The First Coffee Controversy
The unusual black beverage started becoming popular in Europe in the 17th century. First, coffee was blamed for possessing goats, but this time, coffee was blamed as, “Bitter Invention of Satan”.
People became suspicious about coffee.
How can a simple drink keep you awake and make your brain function better?
When in 1615, coffee reached Venice city, the clerics condemned it and banned it. The controversy grew so big, that Pope Clement VIII intervened, tasted, and approved coffee.
Coffee Comes to Austria – The Battle of Vienna
The Battle of Vienna was fought in the 17th century against the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans brought coffee to Austria to stay up and active in the battle. Until they left, coffee had already become popular among Austrians. However, it was still the black drink.
Austrians tried experimenting with coffee and came up with the idea of adding sugar and milk to coffee. It was further improvised by the Americans in the Second Wave of Coffee.
Controversy Fed Marketing and Coffee Businesses
The mid-17th century is the golden era in the history of coffee. It saw an aggressive rise in coffee businesses, wspecially around Europe. In London alone, 300 coffee houses were established. Some of the most popular coffee businesses were born during this time, including Edward Lloyd’s Coffee House.
In then Great Britain, Penny Universities became popular. For just a penny, you could get access to a cup of coffee and a gathering of the wise people, who discussed subjects that were not easily accessible to the common man.
The Women’s Petition Against Coffee – The Most Interesting Event in the History of Coffee
Starting from the Penny Universities, serious politics was now discussed in coffee houses all around Britain. A satire pamphlet, The Women’s Petition Against Coffee, was published in The Telegraph. There are two thoughts about the petition.
- Some people believe that the petition was published by wives of politicians who wanted their men to come back home from the coffee houses.
- Some people believe that the petition was an attempt to distort gatherings in the coffee houses, because these gatherings were apparently causing political uproar.
This petition was as controversial as it could be. It was answered by another pamphlet, The Men’s Answer to the Women’s Petition Against Coffee.
Where Did the American Cup of Joe Come From in the History of Coffee
Until 1773, coffee houses were rapidly being built, but they were still attracting artists, revolutionists, thinkers, politicians, wise, etc. Tea was still a favorite drink and considered a cup of joe in Western countries. 1773 is the revolutionary year for coffee.
King George III imposed heavy taxes on tea, followed by the revolt, also known as Boston Tea Party. It changed American preference for the cup of Joe, and coffee replaced tea in almost all hands in cafes and streets.
Thomas Jefferson declared coffee as the drink of the civilized world. Tontine Coffee House became the first coffee house in New York Stock Exchange.
The Story of Money and Commercializing
The Royal Exchanges in Coffee History- Coffee Travels to the East
Until now, coffee beans were being exported to Europe, Great Britain, and America. In the second half of the 17th century, Dutch got some coffee seedlings and tried planting coffee farms in India, but they failed. Later, they tried growing coffee plants in Batavia, now Indonesia, and they were successful.
Indonesia is still the 5th largest exporter of coffee, with a 4.5% share in the market. However, the overall production of coffee per hectare is low in Indonesia.
The Story of Survival
The Royal Exchanges in Coffee History – Coffee Travels to the West
In 1714, King Louis XIV received a gift from the Mayor of Amsterdam. It was a young coffee plant. This plant grew in the Botanical Garden of France. In 1723, Gabriel de Clieu managed to obtain a seedling and transport it to Martinique. During the transport, he sustained a pirate attack, harsh weather, and fought against a saboteur who wanted to destroy the seedling.
In the next 50 years, this seedling grew over the island of Martinique with 18 million coffee trees. This seedling also became the parent plant for all coffee plants in Central and South America and the Caribbean.
The Story of Love and Theft
The Royal Exchanges – Coffee Plant Travels to Brazil
In 1727, the Brazilian emperor sent Sergeant Major Fransisco de Melo Palheta to settle a dispute between Dutch Guiana and the French. Palheta had his eyes on coffee plants, but they were closely guarded. The French were not willing to share coffee with anyone. But the Sergeant set his eyes on Cayenne’s wife. No one knows if he actually loved her or it was his gimmick to get the coffee sapling.
On the closing day, Cayenne’s wife gave a flower bouquet to the Sergeant with coffee sapling hiding in it. I have also read that Sergeant returned with thousands of coffee seeds and some plants.
Until the early 18th century, coffee production in Brazil was on a very small scale. Later, the exchange of love resulted in a billion-dollar industry in Brazil.
By the mid-18th century, Brazil became The Land of Coffee, with more than a billion lbs. of coffee exported each year. African slavery was already common in Brazil since the 16th century. Between 1800-1850, more than 2 million African slaves were sent to Brazil to support the coffee boom. Later, coffee traveled to Kenya and Tanzania, to build other billion-dollar industries.
History of Coffee – The Second Wave
By the end of the 19th century, experimenting with coffee started on a commercial scale. Percolators and roasters were introduced. In 1901, the first espresso machine was invented by Luigi Bezzera, but espresso extracted from this machine was too bitter.
An improvised version with the correct piston was invented by Achille Gaggia, which made such delicious espresso that it became the heart of Italy.
Then came drip coffee and paper filters, invented in Europe. Later, Nestle introduced the idea of instant coffee, which made coffee more accessible to the common man. In 1929, official researches started to get published about the health benefits of coffee, which further boosted the business.
Alfred Peet established the first commercial coffee roastery in 1971, which later became the first Starbucks.
Howard Schultz joined Alfred Peet in 1982. He was inspired by how coffee drinks were sold in Milan, and wanted to do something similar in America. But Peet and his crew did not agree to this idea. Before that, you could only buy coffee beans from Starbucks, but no drinks.
In 1987, Schultz bought Starbucks for 3.8 million dollars. By this time, he had set up his own coffee company, Il Giornale, which was already a big success until the purchase of Starbucks.
Starbucks became a symbol of coffee lovers. One of the key reasons is the variations in coffee flavors and how Starbucks pairs up coffee with different ingredients, like cream, caramel, syrups, etc.
History of Coffee – The Third Wave
The third coffee wave can also be called the industrialization and commercialization of coffee. It focuses on mass production, storage, packaging, and safely transporting coffee to different parts of the world. The key is to preserve the freshness of coffee from the factory to the supermarket to your home.
How Many People Drink Coffee in the World
Every year, around 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed.
What Country Drinks the Most Coffee
Brazil is the world’s largest coffee producer and exporter, followed by Vietnam, Columbia, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Honduras, Peru, and India.
Are you still wondering who made coffee? Well, the coffee you drink today has gone through some crazy inventions and experiments. No wonder, it is the second-largest commodity in the world after petroleum.