The legends behind coffee

The history of coffee goes at least as far back as the thirteenth century. It's believed that Ethiopian ancestors of today's Oromo people were the first to discover and recognize the energizing effect of the coffee bean plant. The story of Kaldi, the 9th-century Ethiopian goatherd who discovered coffee, did not appear in writing until 1671AD and is probably fictitious.
There are several legendary stories on the origin of the drink itself. One of them involves the Yemenite Sufi Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili. When traveling in Ethiopia, he would have observed birds of unusual vitality, and, upon trying the berries that the birds had been eating, experienced the same unusual energy.

Other accounts attribute the discovery of coffee to Sheik Abu al-Hasan Shadhili's disciple, Omar. According to the ancient chronicle, Omar, who was known for his ability to cure the sick through prayer, was once exiled from Mocha to a desert cave near Ousab. Starving, Omar chewed berries from nearby shrubbery, but found them to be bitter. He tried roasting the beans to improve the flavor, but they became hard. He then tried boiling them to soften the bean, which resulted in a fragrant brown liquid. Upon drinking the liquid Omar was revitalized and sustained for days. As stories of this "miracle drug" reached Mocha, Omar was asked to return and was made a saint.

Another story occurs in the Ethiopian highlands, where the legend of Kaldi the goatherd originated and where coffee trees grow today as they have for centuries. Though we will never know with certainty, there probably is some truth to the Kaldi legend. It is said that he discovered coffee after noticing that his goats, upon eating berries from a certain tree, became so spirited that they did not want to sleep at night. Kaldi dutifully reported his findings to the abbot of the local monastery who made a drink with the berries and discovered that it kept him alert for the long hours of evening prayer. Soon the abbot shared his discovery with the other monks, and the knowledge of the energizing effects of the berries began to spread. As word moved east and coffee reached the Arabian peninsula, it began a journey which would spread its reputation across the globe.

Today coffee is grown in a multitude of countries around the world. Whether it is Asia or Africa, Central or South America, the islands of the Caribbean or Pacific, all can trace their heritage to the trees in the ancient coffee forests on the Ethiopian plateau.

The word "coffee" entered English in 1598 via Dutch koffie. This term was inspired by the word kahve, which is the Turkish pronunciation of the Arabic word qahwa, a truncation of qahhwat al-bun or wine of the bean. One other possible origin of the name is the Kingdom of Kaffa in Ethiopia, where the coffee plant originated; its name there is bunn or bunna.