who discovered coffee

Arabia or Ethiopia ?

The word coffee is a modified version of the Turkish word Kahveh, which in turn is derived from the Arabic word Kahwa. (qahwa) Qahwa was a term formerly applied to wine, so it is a very strong possibility that coffee was first made as a wine.

One can start to trace the history of coffee from the words used to name it.

Kaffa which is a mountainous region of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) where it is believed coffee originated.

Coffee beans were chewed raw for centuries in Ethiopia and Yemen. Excavations in the Ethiopian highlands where coffee grows wild indicates human gathers have been eating coffee berries over a hundred thousand years. The fleshy pulp around the coffee bean in Ethiopian coffee has a high sugar content. Being sweet, being nutritious, and seeds, nuts, grapes and berries being generally eaten by humans for over a million years sort of supports this theory.

Ugandans were noticed chewing dried coffee beans when the first explorers from Europe were searching for the origin of the Nile river. Green coffee beans were ground up and mixed with Ghee (clarified butter), then made into small balls, which were eaten by travellers on long journeys. Some say this is the first trail mix.

Stories in the Southern Arabian peninsula known as Yemen where Europeans first found the coffee plant cultivated support the coffee bean being traded as early as 800 BC. Facts support trade between Yemen and Ethiopia during this time.

Knowing how eating the coffee berry acts on people, it would be logical that those early traders would attempt to trade this item. Additionally, evidence does not support the coffee plant would grow wild in Yemen but was cultivated instead. Although, it is possible that a large bird could have carried the coffee berry that far, it is not likely.

No specific historic event is involved in coffee arriving in Southern Arabia but Ethiopia did invade Southern Arabia in 525 AD. Many speculate that coffee could have been introduced to Arabia at this time. it is believed by some historians that coffee was introduced into Arabia by slave traders who raided Africa as early as 1000 BC.

The two things that support the theory that coffee spread very early in civilized trade are coffee’s affect on people and old Arabian stories.

Here is one such story:

Once upon a time in Arabia, there lived a goat herder named Kaldi. Kaldi was a sober and responsible goat herder. One day, Kaldi’s goats didn’t come home so he went looking for them. He found them hopping with glee acting in an eccentric behavior around a shiny dark-leafed shrub with red berries. Kaldi noted that the goats were eating the red berries. So, he tried the berry. Kaldi was soon dancing around the tree too.

A learned man from a local town named Aucuba came by, he was sleepy, tired, and hungry. Aucuba saw Kaldi acting wildly. He saw the goats acting wildly too. Because he was hungry he tried the berries. He became wide awake and was instantly ready to keep traveling. He took some berries back to his town and used it with other foods. He mixed the berries with drinks at his monastery which kept people awake during prayer. It then spread to other towns and monasteries. Aucuba became a rich man. No one knows what happen to Kaldi.

Here is a different version of the same story from a different book:

Kaldi was an Ethiopian, grazing his flock on the uplands plains of Ethiopia and noticed his flock becoming frisky after eating the leaves and berries of the coffee plant. He tried some and he felt frisky too. He took the “magic” berries to a nearby monastery where the Abbot believed them to be the work of the devil, threw them into the fire. This released such an aroma that the beans were quickly rescued from the flames and the monks eventually learned how to make the hot black beverage we know today. The monks considered coffee as a gift from God because it kept parishioners awake during prayers.

This story is interesting because it was in many different books just slightly changed. 1949 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Otis, McAllister & Co. 1954, From Coffee to Espresso by Francesco & Riccardo Illy 1989, Coffee by Kenneth Davids 1991 where just some of the books. Kaldi’s name was always used and a monastery was always involved.

We can make an assumption from the facts here. The assumption of fact is that the story is interesting enough to be repeated. Other than that, the story doesn’t have much bearing on reality.

Yet, another story was that the Archangel Gabriel came to the aid of Mohammed who was about to be overcome by sleep during a political battle. After a few sips of this brew from heaven, Mohammed felt so good that he was able to unhorse forty man and make forty women happy.

It has been proved that the coffee seed and skin was commercially removed from the berry as early as 1000 AD. The pulp was added to animal fat to make it easier to eat while travelling.