Now that I have a coffee website, a big question I get asked often is where was coffee discovered? I never know how to answer that because I do not know the answer myself.
You Do Not Know The Answer?
That is correct. Coffee has been around for hundreds of years. It may be difficult to pinpoint where it was first discovered though. I say this because the countries who grow coffee beans have been doing it for a very long time.
We would have to look up every country and search to find out what year they started growing coffee beans.
For me that would take way too long.
What I Believe May Be The Truth
After hours of intense research, I gathered lots of ideas and managed to put them together in a way which makes the most sense possible.
It all started in Ethiopia. There was a goat herder and his name was Kaldi. He had a bunch of great, wonderful goats. One day those goats chilled on the grass and decided to eat some red berries from a specific Coffea arabica tree.
Out of no where, the goats developed some crazy, magical energy and Kaldi lost control of them.
Now imagine yourself being surrounded by some very energetic goats.
That would make some good entertaining times.
Things Seemed To Get Worse For Kaldi
To make matters worse for Kaldi, he was not able to get the goats to fall asleep.
They kept getting out of bed and ran around in circles.
Because of that, Kaldi told someone about his experience. That same person then tried the berries himself and noticed it kept him awake throughout the night. He felt a burst of energy which would not go away. From there people started finding out about these magical berries and word got around very quickly.
That’s a shame.
Because if he didn’t tell anyone about his experience, he could have filed a patent or something with the Ethiopian Patent and Trademark Office.
All he needed to do was use his laptop and search online to see if a patent did exist.
Let me remind you, this was the 9th century.
If none existed, the next step would be to call a patent attorney and get one filed.
Just think of the millions or billions of Ethiopian Birrs (1 Ethiopian Birr equals 0.031 USD as of this writing) Kaldi could have made from worldwide coffee sales and usage.
Possible Truth On The History Of Coffee
I know my story above was a little crazy. But do think it would make an excellent movie.
KALDI LOST CONTROL OF HIS GOATS
THE MOVIE!
Below is an interesting piece from Wikipedia on the history of coffee.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_coffee
The history of coffee dates back to the 15th century, and possibly earlier with a number of reports and legends surrounding its first use. The native (undomesticated) origin of Coffee bean is from Ethiopia. The earliest substantiated evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree is from the early 15th century, in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen, spreading soon to Mecca and Cairo. By the 16th century, it had reached the rest of the Middle East, South India (Karnataka), Persia, Turkey, the Horn of Africa, and northern Africa. Coffee then spread to the Balkans, Italy, and to the rest of Europe, as well as Southeast Asia and then to America, despite bans imposed during the 15th century by religious leaders in Mecca and Cairo, and later by the Catholic Church.
Coffee was recognized around the early 15th century and expanded worldwide by the next century. That is pretty amazing considering there were no televisions, radio or high speed internet available. If today’s technology was around back then, coffee would have developed worldwide popularity in no time.
Outside of all that though, the most important piece of information from the above was about where the coffee bean was from. Where it originated.
So Where Was Coffee Discovered
After learning how energized goats can be, I believe it’s safe to say it all started in Ethiopia.
We have the young Kaldi and his goats to thank for this amazing discovery.
Since then I wonder if any other goats have tried some ‘red berries’ and weren’t able to sleep afterwards.
Can you imagine if those same red berries were eaten by a donkey?
That would make some more good entertaining times.
Thank You For Reading
I appreciate you taking the time to read my post. The story of Kaldi and his goats can probably be found everywhere. I modified my version to make it humorous and hopefully you laughed a few times.
If you did not laugh, this proves I made an excellent choice in not attempting stand up comedy.
Feel free to leave any questions or comments below.