Where Does Coffee Come From?
The question “where does coffee come from” gets asked a lot. Coffee is the one drink that offers a very unique taste. It’s why it is undisputed where aroma and taste are concerned. Coffee is grown worldwide, but its roots can be traced to forests found on the Ethiopian plateau. Legend has it that a goat herder by the name of Kaldi is the one who discovered the potential of these miracle beans.
This discovery came about after he noticed his goats becoming very energetic after eating the berries from coffee trees. This led him to report his findings to the local monastery and the abbot there made a drink using the berries. He observed that the drink kept him alert throughout evening prayers. The abbot then spread
the wonderful news to other abbots at the monastery and that is how the energizing effect of coffee berries started to spread.
Where cultivation started
The Arabian Peninsula is where the coffee trade and cultivation started and by the 15th century coffee was also being cultivated in a district of Arabia called Yemen. By the time 16th century coffee trade and cultivation had already spread to Turkey, Persia, Syria and Egypt.
Since the love of coffee was now being experienced by many people in the Near East, this gave rise to coffee houses. People began frequenting these coffee houses for all kinds of social activities such as playing chess, conversations and keeping up with current news. The Near East started referring to these coffee houses as ‘Schools of the Wise’.
Coffee Introduction to Europe
Coffee was first introduced to Europe by European travelers from the Near East. They referred to the coffee drink as an unusual dark beverage and after making its way throughout Europe, it became increasingly popular all across the continent. This then enabled people to replace their usual beer and wine with coffee since they always felt alert and energized during the day, which greatly improved their quality of work.
Coffee Introduction to the New World
Where does coffee come from is a question that many people want to know the answer to and it depends what you mean by the question. Do you want to know coffee’s natural environment? or do you want to know how it got into the hands of the Americas and the “New World”? The New World used to prefer tea but as soon as coffee was introduced, coffee houses rapidly spread after being introduced by the British. This then led to Thomas Jefferson referring to coffee as the favorite drink of the civilized world!
Coffee Species
The Arabica and Robusta species are the two most important and recognized coffee species though it is estimated that there are between 25 and 100 species. The Arabica coffee bean (whose origin is Ethiopian) is the most preferred species, which is why it fetches the highest prices. To get a better understanding between Arabica and Robusta check out the Theroasterspack’s article on the subject!
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