In order to ensure we’re on the same page, let’s start with an explanation. Coffee is a beverage brewed with very steaming or boiling hot water and coffee beans that have been roasted and ground.
The beans for coffee are extracted from coffee plants. They are members of the botanical species Coffea. The beans are found inside the fruit of the plant. The fruit is referred to as cherries; it takes about a full year for the fruit to mature, and ripen so its bean is able to be picked.
The plants (which are actually coffee trees that have been cut to reduce their size) require moderate temperatures, plenty of shade, and plenty of rain. For that reason, they can only be productively grown in areas that are temperate of the globe between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. This is in the Western Hemisphere, that’s between Central Mexico in the north and the Amazon rainforest in the South. This area is known as “the belt of beans” or the coffee region.
Coffee is slightly acidic and somewhat bitter but you still need a coffee subscription to taste all the layers of flavor. It’s also known to have health benefits, it’s a mild stimulant due to its caffeine content. it’s the second most popular drink around the globe (right after tea, and without water).
We’ll discuss those characteristics in greater detail, following a quick look at the background of coffee.
Here are the two most frequently told stories about the discovery of coffee.
Ethiopia
The most interesting story is about goat herders from the Ethiopian region called Kaffa. (Hmm…Kaffa? Coffee? This is already cool.) It is believed that his goats found a coffee plant. He attempted chewing the beans and was amazed at their stimulant properties, so the beans were taken to a monastery in the area.
Unimpressed monks threw the coffee beans into a fire in order to dispose of them however they were enthralled by the aroma of the roasted beans and rescued them and tossed them into boiling water to preserve the beans. Eureka! Coffee!
It’s actually believed that Ethiopians were chewing coffee beans for centuries prior to they started to use coffee. It is believed that they would grind the beans, mix the coffee with animal fat or ghee, and then take this mixture with them during long journeys to be utilized for energy and stimulation.
Around the year 1100, some Ethiopian tribes made a mixture of porridge and coffee, and eventually, they began making wine using the beans or boiling the beans to create coffee. That story isn’t as delightful as the goat-herder version and isn’t as convincing, but it’s more likely to be true.
Yemen
The tale of origin from Yemen is also pretty cool. The priest (who was also a doctor) was exiled to the Yemeni desert cave, where he was on the brink of dying from starvation. The possibility was that he found an undiscovered coffee plant or, in a less dramatic version, a bird brought him the branch of a coffee tree.
The cherries were too bitter to be eaten raw, he threw them in a fire to boil them, but that caused them to be too difficult to chew. Then he boiled them and you’ll be able to guess the rest of the story; His exile lifted. He brought coffee beans home and everyone lived happily throughout the years. The priest was declared a saint and the monastery was established in his name.
Very nice article. Here’s what we actually know to be certain about, however. Coffee beans were transported by Ethiopia to Yemen at the end of the 15th century. Sufi monks consumed coffee to keep awake during their lengthy prayer meetings. It was the Yemeni capital city was Mocha (hmmm…mocha! Interesting!) It also became a central distribution hub for the sought-after Mocha beans that grow in the mountains of the region. These beans were transported to Europe and other ports in the 17th century.
Thus, we have a fact that many hundreds of years ago, the people of coffee drinking were in the Arabian Peninsula and in the Middle East.