It seems like everybody in the world is drinking coffee now. Well, at least one billion of us are, and at an average of two cups a day, that’s a lot of coffee! Coffee production is much more than just a hill of beans, there are mountains of the stuff grown worldwide to supply our insatiable demand for the dark drink. Coffee is an integral part of everyday life for many, two (or three) cups to get the day started, an espresso pick-me-up at lunch, and in many cultures a cup after dinner to settle the stomach. Going out to coffee has even established itself as an important way station on the path to romance, it’s now the go-to first date, hands down!
It’s easier than ever to ensure we have a ready supply of our favourite beverage, we can buy organic coffee beans online and have them sent to us at the touch of a finger! Not only is it delicious, coffee is healthy and makes us feel good, thanks in part to its best-loved ingredient, caffeine.
So, coffee is wonderful stuff, but where did it come from, and how did it become such an important feature of our daily lives? Here is a short history of coffee so the next time you enjoy your cup of beans you will know where its roots were.
Coffee began in the same region it is thought human life did- Africa. Legend has it an ancient Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi first discovered coffee’s stimulating effects after his goats ate a bunch of berries from a coffee tree, raised hell all day and didn’t sleep that night! He told the abbot at a nearby monastery who tested out Kaldi’s story by making what might have been the first cup of coffee. The brew helped him stay awake through evening prayers, a small miracle by his reckoning, and pretty soon everybody in the area was drinking it!
From Ethiopia news of the drink spread to the Arabian Peninsula where cultivation of the bean began in earnest. By the 16th century, coffee had spread to Turkey, Persia, Syria, and Egypt. The first coffee shops began to appear, venues where people could gather to talk, play chess, listen to music, and spread the news of the day. They were called Schools of the Wise and were considered centres of knowledge and learning, despite the fact that laptops and college students had not been invented yet. For more info on that amazing substance check out this government site dedicated to the subject.
Europeans who travelled to the Near East were quick to catch on and brought the stimulating beverage home with them. By the 17th century coffee houses had spread all across the continent, edging out beer and wine as the tipple of choice for citizens. This mysteriously coincided with a boost in production and work quality, perhaps a clue as to why so many businesses offer free coffee to their employees to this very day!
