Where did coffee start, you may ask. It is such an staple part of many people's days, but not many stop to think about where the bean started.
It started a long time ago. Over 1000 years ago, in 900 AD, with a little goatherd named Kaldi. Kaldi noticed his goats acting more energize when they ate the berries off of a certain bush and tried them himself. The result was that he felt more awake himself. He brought this knowledge to the monks in his area and they are credited with being the first to grind and add hot water to the beans. Thus creating the first official cup of coffee.
Fast forward 500 years to around 1500-1600 and coffee beans had taken over the Middle East. In Yemen the coffee beans were first roasted to give the slightly burnt and dark flavor they have now. The first coffee houses began to spring up in the Arabian world where men would go to play games and drink coffee. Around 1600, the beans began to travel to Europe.
Europe accepted the drink at first and it spread like wildfire. By the mid-1600's there were coffee houses as far West as London and Paris. They became birthplaces of ideas. The London Stock Exchange was brainstormed at such a place. There was such a high demand, that more countries joined to grow the beans. The Dutch smuggled coffee sprouts from the Middle East and began to grow them locally. They became the first country to be an export for coffee beans.
Alas, in 1727 Brazil took down the giant Dutch and would soon become the world leader in the export. This move became the pentacle for coffee to go from a rich-man's drink to an everyday drink.
Fast forward another 200 years, during which time the espresso machine was invented (1900), instant coffee was invented (1901), the German's discovered decaffeinate (1900), and coffee filters were invented (1908). Coffee finally broke into the US mass market in 1938 right before WWII with instant coffee.
The rest is history. A lot of information, and a lot of years packed into a little post. Coffee has gone through so much to get from the goatherd to your cup. A journey of over 1000 years.
Wow, That's really cool how they thought it was a berry and then, all of a sudden if feel like, it took a hold of us. Though, I am surprised that decaffeinated coffee came before the filters.
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