You're sitting in Starbucks sipping your Mocha Latte and you think to yourself, “I wonder where coffee came from?” We drink coffee everyday. It gives us new found energy, a pleasant wake up call, and that extra buzz early in the day that we sometimes need to really get ourselves going. Other than major worldwide coffee shops and distributors where does coffee come from? Where did it originate from? We all know where to find a good cup of hot coffee at. They serve them at just about every restaurant, fast food chain, donut shop, and even at local gas stations. How did coffee spread from a bush in Ethiopia to the rest of the world and into the shop around the corner?
Image Source: FlickrCoffee originated from Ethiopia in the Harar Plateau. An African goat herder named Kaldi saw his goats acting rather odd and hyper after chewing on some berry bush out in the distance. Intrigued by the goats strange behavior Kaldi ate a few of the berries from the same bush. Kaldi was shocked because after eating these strange berries he felt energized and renewed. Kaldi told other about these new berries that give you energy. When word got around coffee berries were exported from Ethiopia to Yemen in Arabia Pennisula where it was cultivated. Then the coffee was transported to Turkey where the Turkish roasted the beans over large open fires. To create a raw unrefined version of today's coffee in Turkey they smashed the coffee beans and then boiled it in extremely hot water.
The Venetian trade merchants brought coffee into Europe. Although the Catholic Church was extremely against the new drink at first. The The Pope sipped a cup and blessed it as a Christian drink and coffee began to be widely accepted in Europe. Coffee shops spread rapidly across Europe and in the 1700's coffee was introduced to the Americas. Cultivating the plant all throughout the islands and Brazil made it easy to produce mass quantities of coffee, enough for the world. In the year of 1822 the first ever espresso machine was created in France and coffee has not been the same since. The Italians were responsible for manufacturing these marvelous espresso machines and perfecting it's function.
Coffee shops can be found all throughout the world. It is common in most cultures and regions to sit and sip coffee and talk. Many intellectuals drink coffee and discuss world issues. All it took was one curious goat herder and now the entire world is drinking coffee. You cannot go anywhere in the world today and not be able to find a place that doesn't serve coffee. We drink it in the morning before breakfast. After breakfast coffee is served and even at lunch. People drink coffee at all hours of the day and night. Now over 400 billion cups of coffee is consumed every single year. Coffee has become the world's most popular beverage. It spread slowly from Ethiopia all the way to your local town.
