The Legend of Kaldi (6th - 9th century or never)

According to legend, a goat herder named Kaldi was the first person who discovered coffee beans and their benefits. Kaldi fell asleep in the middle of a field one day — because that’s what you did in the 6th century before TikTok and fidget spinners — and when he woke up he couldn’t find his goats. He blew his special flute that the goats usually went ape shit for but alas, the goats did not come. Kaldi noticed some crows circling a nearby wooded area and he decided to see if the birds were circling food, because if they were, his goats may be there. After a short trek through this ancient Ethiopian forest, Kaldi found his goats, but they were acting strange — Kaldi noticed his goats were plowing through some weird berries from a particular tree, they were so full of energy that they didn’t want to sleep at night.

Kaldi reported his findings to the abbot of the local monastery, who struggled to stay awake during the long hours of evening prayer. The abbot made a drink with the cherries and found that it kept him alert. In other words, according to the story, the person who invented coffee did so for the most relatable reason possible.

After the abbot shared his discovery with the other monks at the monastery. Knowledge of the energizing berries began to spread, moving east.

This whole story is likely BS but it’s widely accepted as truth since we don’t have a way to straight up disprove it. Funny how that works.

Coffee Culture Develops (15th century)

By the 15th century, coffee was being grown in what is now Yemen, and by the 16th century it gained popularity in what we now know as Iran, Egypt, Syria, and Turkey.

At this time, you could drink coffee at home, but you might also go to one of the many public coffee houses, or qahveh khaneh, that had started popping up in cities across the region now referred to as the Middle East. At these thriving social hubs, you not only could sip your coffee and chat, but you could listen to music, watch performances, play chess, and stay current on the news. In fact, coffee houses were so vital to the exchange of information at the time that they were also known as “Schools of the Wise.”

The Arabian Peninsula attracted thousands of travelers each year, including those making the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. As these pilgrims traveled home, they spread the knowledge of these coffee houses and the “wine of Araby” served there.

The coffee shop, Cairo / David Roberts, R.A. — via Library of Congress

It’s Satanic Unless I Like It (17th Century)

Not everyone embraced coffee right away. Some people reacted with suspicion and fear, even going so far as to call it the “bitter invention of Satan.” When coffee came to Venice in 1615, local clergy condemned it, sparking a controversy so great that Pope Clement VIII was asked to intervene. After tasting coffee for himself, he found it so satisfying that he gave it papal approval.

By the mid-17th century, there were over 300 coffee houses in London, and many of them became “specialized” as they attracted like-minded customers. Some of these coffee houses catered to merchants, for example, while others drew in artists or brokers. Businesses even emerged from these specialized coffee houses—Lloyd’s of London, the global insurance marketplace, began at the Edward Lloyd’s Coffee House.

Coffee Plantations Hit Asia (still 17th Century)

The Dutch finally got coffee tree seedlings in the latter half of the 17th century. Their first attempts to grow them in India failed, but they were successful with their efforts in what is now Indonesia, on the island of Java. The trees thrived and soon the Dutch had a productive and growing trade in coffee. They then expanded the cultivation of coffee trees to the islands of Sumatra and Sulawesi.

The Dutch also created the world’s first coffee blend in Indonesia, combining Arabian coffee (also called Mocha, after the famous Yemeni port city) with coffee grown on Java. This blend has endured, and you can still enjoy a fresh cup of Mocha Java today.

Nearly 200 years later, French missionaries introduced the coffee tree to Vietnam. The missionaries brought arabica trees from the island of Bourbon and planted them around Tonkin in the mid-19th century.

white people shit - 17th century — via Wikimedia Commons

Coffee Hits the Americas (18th Century)

In 1714, the Mayor of Amsterdam presented a gift of a young coffee tree to King Louis XIV of France. The King ordered it to be planted in the Royal Botanical Garden in Paris, and in 1723, Gabriel de Clieu, a young naval officer, obtained a seedling from the king’s tree. Despite a challenging voyage featuring horrific weather, a pirate attack, and even a saboteur who tried to destroy the seedling, he managed to transport it safely to Martinique.

Once planted, the seedling thrived. We have that first coffee tree to thank for the spread of coffee throughout the Americas, including more than 18 million coffee trees that grew on the island of Martinique over the next 50 years. However, that seedling also served as the parent for all the first coffee trees in the Caribbean as well as South and Central America.

Coffee arrived in Brazil thanks to the efforts of Francisco de Mello Palheta, a Portuguese military officer sent by the emperor to French Guiana to get coffee seedlings. The French were not willing to share—global competition in the coffee trade was still fierce—but lucky for de Mello Palheta, he happened to be quite handsome. Captivated by him, the French Governor’s wife gave him a large bouquet of flowers before he left. Buried inside were enough coffee seeds to begin what is today a billion-dollar industry in Brazil, which I’m sure was an attempt at reciprocation for the seeds de Mello Palheta buried inside her.

In the mid-1600s, coffee was brought to what is now New York City. Though coffee houses emerged and grew in popularity over the next century, tea was still the favored drink in the New World until King George III imposed a heavy tax on it in 1773. As you probably know, the tax ignited significant protest and led to the revolt known as the Boston Tea Party. As you may not know, that event didn’t just change the course of American history—it forever changed Americans’ beverage preference to coffee. 

Francisco after giving the Governor’s wife a French Press, if you know what I mean

Coffee Makes Waves (19th, 20th, 21st Century)

By the dawn of the 19th century, coffee was established as one of the world’s most profitable export crops. It was one of the most sought-after commodities in the world, second only to crude oil.

Coffee—and the way we drink it—has continued to evolve. In the 20th and 21st centuries, we’ve seen several “waves” of coffee that represent both a type of coffee and an accompanying shift in coffee culture. The first wave of coffee arose as industrialization allowed for mass production. This is the coffee that first hit the shelves of grocery stores, and it provided functionality and convenience. Individuals, restaurants and other businesses could buy this coffee, sold in bulk and mostly pre-ground, and make it daily. There was little focus on origin, and few people in the U.S. even realized coffee grows on trees.

The second wave of coffee came with the rise of the coffee chains and brands, now ubiquitous in our global culture. With modern coffee shops—our equivalent of the coffee houses of previous centuries—a new coffee culture began to emerge, placing a greater emphasis not only on the quality of the coffee, but the experience. These social hubs allowed more people to experiment with new types of coffee, coffee drinks, and flavors—and to savor them.

As coffee drinkers began to develop more sophisticated palates, a third wave emerged—and this coffee is now often referred to as specialty coffee. This term can refer to many different types of coffee, but broadly, this wave represents a new level of quality, interest, and exploration. Coffee drinkers began looking for specific flavor profiles and single-origin coffees, as well as trying different roasts and brewing methods such as pour-over and French press. Interest in sustainability and transparency in coffee production also grew during this wave. Today, new options continue to emerge, such as ready-to-drink (RTD) cold brew, coffee pods, instant coffee, and so much more.

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