With coffee culture now a natural way of the modern world & a daily habit that we coffee-swiggin’ Coffee Wanchors cannot go without, it is one of the world’s most traded commodities, second only to petrol. Understandably, human beings love their beans, but where do these wondrous little coffee beans originate, I hear you ask?
By far the most popular – & our favourite – explanation is that coffee beans and their caffeinated magical effects were discovered by a humble goat farmer named Kaldi in Ethiopia (formerly known as Abyssinia) in 700AD. And a whole lotta coffee has been quaffed since then! One evening in the Ethiopian forest, after Kaldi had put his goats to bed, he was awoken by strange noises coming from the goat shed so went outside to discover that his goats were acting rather giddy; they appeared to be dancing! After some late-night investigations, Kaldi discovered that the goats had been munching on red berries, which were in fact coffee beans, hence why his goats were literally ‘full of beans’. So energetic were his goats that they would not sleep that evening (we’ve all been there when we’ve had that cheeky 4pm flat white & still been wide-eyed at midnight) & Kaldi realised the magical effects of the coffee beans.
With this coffee bean revelation, Kaldi was said to have taken his magic beans to a local monk who was delighted that he could now stay up all night & indulge in prayer. Another story claims that the said monk was highly disapproving of these enchanted beans so threw them in the fire, only to realise that they released the most delightful & mesmerising aroma. These roasted beans were then boiled, slurped & there we have it…coffee!
After the birth of this caffeinated coffee creation, it was then shipped across to the port of Yemen, known as…wait for it…Mocha! The Arabians went coffee crazy & began growing coffee beans themselves. Then the coffee shop revolution began: coffee houses opened all over Arabia & were soon named the ‘schools of the wise’. Again, we all know how sparky & intelligent that morning brew can make us feel, allowing us to waffle-on with gusto & conviction until our next caffeinated hit. Coffee quickly became embedded in Arabian society & spread into Asia & Europe like wildfire (or ‘wild Fowler’ as my dad accidentally once said). And the rest…to be quite honest, we don’t really care. As long as we Coffee Wanchors have our daily fix, the rest is – as they say – history!