A Brief History of Coffee
The history of coffee doesn’t begin on any particular date. It begins with a legend. Discovery of coffee centres around Kaldi, an Ethiopian herder from Kaffa,. He was tending to his goats when he noticed that some of them were behaving abnormally, yelling and jumping wildly, he realised that the energetic goats had eaten the berries and leaves of an unknown plant. Then he tried some of it and he felt energised rapidly. He collected some berries and took them to his wife, who convinced him to take the “heaven sent” berries to the monastery.
But, the monks from a nearby monastery were not excited when they heard about this phenomenon, so they tossed the berries into the fire because they believed that it was a trick from the Devil. After roasting the seeds in the fire, the rich aromas grab the curiosity of the monks. This beverage helped them to keep awake during long hours of prayer. This drink quickly spread and it was drunk in coffee houses in the far away holy cities of Medina and Mecca. The propagation of the coffee bean began in Yemen and was well established by the 15th century.
Arabian leaders banned the export of fertile beans to protect this valuable beverage. Eventually, Baba Budan smuggled a few viable seeds out of the country when he returned to India during the 17th Century. The first ever coffee plant to be taken to Europe was stolen by Dutch traders. Then they set up plantations throughout their colonies in Sumatra, Timor, Ceylon and many more. In time it was also produced in Latin America, India, Brazil, Jamaica and West Indies, which today make over 60% of the world’s coffee production.
The first coffeehouses began in Mecca and grew throughout the Arab world. The idea of it was that people could go to discuss culture and conduct business for the price of this drink. It flourished in Paris, London, Venice and North America in the 1600s. This culture is still alive and produces billions of cups of coffee that are being enjoyed worldwide every day.
Want to know where the best coffee shops is? Triple Two Coffee can help you through that. Come and visit us, or you could also go through our menu online or send us your enquiry here.