The coffee plant (Coffea arabica) is native to Ethiopia, where it was discovered in 800/850 AD

Legend

The legend tells of an Ethiopian goat shepherd named Kaldi, who one day noticed his goats were full of energy, jumping around and dancing after eating the fruit and leaves of a specific bush.

Surprised and curious, the shepherd then tried the fruit for himself and felt a rush of energy. Amazed by his discovery he took some fruit and returned to his village to tell the others what he had found.

Background

The coffee plant (Coffea arabica) is native to Ethiopia. The coffee plant is thought to have originated from a plateau in Ethiopia, given its proclivity for spontaneous growth there as nowhere else.

The region is known as Kaffa, it is not clear whether the planted influenced the regions name or vice versa.

From Ethiopia to Arabia

The first person known to write about coffee was a Persian physician and philosopher named Rhazes or Razi (850 to 922 AD), who characterized it as a medicine. He described a beverage called bunchum, prepared with an infusion of a fruit called bunn—the Ethiopian name for a coffee cherry.

Coffee plants were then taken across the Red Sea from Ethiopia to Yemen which lacks its own indigenous coffee. There the Sufi monks used the plants to stay awake and pray through the night. Some early writings establish Yemen, on the southern part of Arabian Peninsula across the Red Sea from Ethiopia, as home to the first coffee plantations starting in the early 15th century.

A worldwide success

Coffee's worldwide journey began after the Turkish conquests of the Arabian Peninsula during the early 16th century. It was the Ottoman Empire that took coffee from the Arabian continent to other parts of the world and there are many romantic stories about coffee's introduction to the world - for example that the raw beans were not allowed out of the country of origin without first being steeped in boiling water or heated to destroy their germinating power. It is also said strangers were not allowed to visit the plantations.

Coffee and Islam

The Muslim religion's prohibition of alcohol consumption alson gave a big lift to coffee throughout Turkey and the rest of the Ottoman Empire. Coffee became a substitute for wine, and was given the name kahve—literally, "wine of Arabia".

The first documented coffee house opened in Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1554, but there are thought to have been others earlier in Cairo, Damascus, Mecca, and Medina.

Coffee in Christian lands

The early 17th century saw Muslim world introduce coffee to Christian Europe through the work of Venetian merchants. Coffee was met with strong resistance from the Catholic Church, especially by the Pope's Councilmen, who asked Pope Clemente VIII to declare the black beverage "the bitter invention of Satan." However this did not happen as it is thought the Pope tried coffee and enjoyed the beverage.

The Coffee Ceremony

To this day coffee remains important to Ethiopia for example in a tradition of an Ethiopian tribe, the Galla, regularly consume "energy balls" made by blending animal fat and macerated coffee cherries. Another example is a coffee ceremony which considered a mark of friendship or respect and is an excellent example of Ethiopian hospitality.

Performing the ceremony is almost obligatory in the presence of a visitor, whatever the time of day. The ceremony is usually conducted by one young woman, dressed in the traditional Ethiopian costume of a white dress with coloured woven borders. The long involved process starts with the ceremonial apparatus being arranged upon a bed of long scented grasses.

Ethiopian coffee

Sadly Ethiopia only accounts for 4-5% of global coffee production (ICO, 2016), it commands a central position in the sector because it contains most of the global genetic diversity of Arabica coffee (Labouisse et al., 2008). This genetic resource is critical to developing varieties which are more resistant to the impacts of climate change, pests and diseases without compromising taste and quality (Hein and Gatzweiler, 2006;Mehrabi and Lashermes, 2017;van der Vossen et al., 2015). In addition to the global importance of Ethiopia's genetic resources, coffee plays a central role in the national economy and the livelihoods of approximately 4.5 million farmers.

References

A History of Coffee - Reginald F. Smith (1985)

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2010/08/coffees-mysterious-origins/61054/

Protecting the origins of coffee to safeguard its future - Z. Mehrabi, P. Lashermes (2017)]