Coffee's history: fact and legend

The origin of coffee is the stuff of legend and lore. Early accounts detail coffee's discovery by goat herders in Ethiopia in or around the sixth century, where it continues to grow wild. The herders marveled at these “wild berries,” which seemed to produce a euphoria and satiate the appetite as well. From then, until the 10th century, coffee was considered a food as tribesmen took these berries on hunting trips, mixed with other food staples.

Through trade, coffee found its way across the Red Sea to the Arabian Peninsula. By the thirteenth century, coffee’s medicinal and religious usages became well known from the holy cities of Mecca and Medina to Egypt, Persia and Syria. Here also is where coffee earned its reputation as an “eye opener,” as it reportedly kept Muslims awake during long prayer ceremonies. During the Muslim expansion (circa 11th–16th century) coffee appeared in Turkey, Spain and North Africa.

Soon thereafter, Venetian traders brought coffee to Europe, where it quickly became the choice of Europe’s Middle Class. Coffeehouses sprung up all over Europe and it became the drink over which all matters—important and mundane—were discussed.

Despite efforts to control this wonderful commodity, coffee was smuggled to India. From there, the Dutch began cultivating Coffea arabica in Java on the Indonesian archipelago. And by the 18th century, the French were transporting coffee trees to the Caribbean.

Coffee was introduced in America in or around the mid-17th century, but did not become our signature cultural drink until the time of the Boston Tea Party in 1773. Since, coffee has become a recognized institution as the universal anytime beverage.