The Delicious History of Coffee

Although the origins of coffee are lost to time and myth, the most persistent story tells of Kaldi, a goatherd who lived in the highlands of Abyssinia (now the African country of Ethiopia) sometime before 1000 AD.

Legend has it that Kaldi found his goats eating bright red berries from a dark-leafed shrub. Usually calm and responsible, the goats began dancing, frolicking and singing. Kaldi shared his discovery with local monks who concocted a drink by boiling the berries. Fuelled by the drink, the monks realized that they now had the stamina to pray for hours on end. Later, a particularly curious monk, who liked the sweet aroma of a burning coffee branch, pulled the charred berries from the fire, ground them down and prepared a black beverage. This liquid was the first coffee.

Whether discovered by goatherds, monks or wandering mystics from Arabia (as another legend has it), coffee is considered native to Ethiopia. From Ethiopia, coffee spread, first to the Middle East, then to Europe, and finally to the New World.