The History of Coffee

Once Upon a Time…

The most widely circulated story about the coffee's beginnings is difficult to substantiate, but has developed into an enjoyable tale over the years. It goes something like this:

“One day a young Ethiopian named Kaldi was minding his goats in the hillsides. He noticed that the goats seemed to bound with extra energy and delight after eating small red berries from a mountainside shrub. After watching the phenomenon for a while, Kaldi decided to try some of these berries himself. Immediately he began to dance and play with his goats and all his tiredness disappeared. From that day on, Kaldi began each morning by eating these mysterious red berries with his goats. They continued to have lively, cheerful days. One day a monk from a nearby monastery saw Kaldi dancing with his goats and inquired as to this bizarre behavior. Kaldi shared the secret of the red berries and after the monk tried them, he immediately felt a surge of energy. The story goes on from here to explain how the monk boiled the cherries to make a liquid for the monks to drink so they would not fall asleep during religious prayers. The news of this magical drink spread quickly and soon all the monasteries in the kingdom were drinking it in order to spend more time praying. The drink became know as "Qahwah" which means "invigorating and stimulating.”