A brief History of Coffee

Coffee was first found in present-day East Africa Ethiopia. The popular saying is that a shepherd named Kaldi found that the goat was agile after eating a kind of berry. Out of curiosity, Kaldi tried to eat a little himself. He found the berries refreshing him. This energetic berry soon became well known in this area.

Coffee was first discovered in Eastern Africa in an area we know today as Ethiopia. A popular legend refers to a goat herder by the name of Kaldi, who observed his goats acting unusually frisky after eating berries from a bush. Curious about this phenomena, Kaldi tried eating the berries himself. He found that these berries gave him a renewed energy. The news of this energy laden fruit quickly spread throughout the region.

When the monks heard about the magical berries, they dried them so that they could be transported to a distant monastery. Then soak the berries in water, eat the fruit and drink the soaked water to prolong the prayer time.

Monks hearing about this amazing fruit, dried the berries so that they could be transported to distant monasteries.They reconstituted these berries in water, ate the fruit, and drank the liquid to provide stimulation for a more awakened time for prayer.

Coffee beans were shipped from Ethiopia to the Arabian Peninsula and were first grown in present-day Yemen.

Coffee berries were transported from Ethiopia to the Arabian peninsula, and were first cultivated in what today is the country of Yemen.

It spread from Yemen to Turkey, when it began to bake coffee beans with open fire. The roasted coffee is ground and boiled in water is the prototype of the coffee drink we drink today.

From there, coffee traveled to Turkey where coffee beans were roasted for the first time over open fires. The roasted beans were crushed, and then boiled in water, creating a crude version of the beverage we enjoy today.

Venice merchants brought coffee to continental Europe for the first time. The new drink was once severely criticized by the Catholic Church. Many people think that the pope should ban coffee and call it a sin drink. Surprisingly, the Pope is already a coffee drinker and declares that coffee is a truly Christian drink.

Coffee first arrived on the European continent by means of Venetian trade merchants. Once in Europe this new beverage fell under harsh criticism from the Catholic church. Many felt the pope should ban coffee, calling it the drink of the devil. To their surprise, the pope, already a coffee drinker, blessed coffee declaring it a truly Christian beverage.

The coffee shop developed rapidly in Europe and became an exchange center for intellectuals. Many of the innovative ideas of the European Forum stem from the beverage's ability to improve thinking and creativity.

Coffee houses spread quickly across Europe becoming centers for intellectual exchange. Many great minds of Europe used this beverage, and forum, as a springboard to heightened thought and creativity.

In the 18th century, a French infantry captain introduced coffee to America. He raised a small coffee tree during his long journey across the Atlantic. The coffee tree was transplanted to the Caribbean island of Martinique and more than 19 million coffee trees were grown on the island over the next 50 years. Although it was a difficult start, coffee cultivation took this opportunity to spread throughout the tropics of Central and South America.

In the 1700s, coffee found its way to the Americas by means of a French infantry captain who nurtured one small plant on its long journey across the Atlantic. This one plant, transplanted to the Caribbean Island of Martinique, became the predecessor of over 19 million trees on the island within 50 years. It was from this humble beginning that the coffee plant found its way to the rest of the tropical regions of South and Central America.

In protest against the tea surtax imposed by the British government, the Continental Parliament declared coffee as a national drink in the American colony.

Coffee was declared the national drink of the then colonized United States by the Continental Congress, in protest of the excessive tax on tea levied by the British crown.

Today, coffee has become a major industry in the world, with more than 20 million employees. This commodity ranks second only to oil in global trade in US dollars. Coffee is the most popular drink in the world, consuming 400 billion cups a year. It is conceivable that in Brazil alone, more than 5 million people are engaged in planting and harvesting, and the number of coffee trees has reached 3 billion.

Today, coffee is a giant global industry employing more than 20 million people. This commodity ranks second only to petroleum in terms of dollars traded worldwide. With over 400 billion cups consumed every year, coffee is the world's most popular beverage. If you can imagine, in Brazil alone, over 5 million people are employed in the cultivation and harvesting of over 3 billion coffee plants.