The Legend of Coffee

The history and development of the beverage that we know as coffee is diverse and interesting, involving chance occurrences, political conspiracy, and the pursuit of wealth and power. 

According to one story, the effect of the coffee beans on behavior was noticed by a sheepherder from Caffa Ethopia named Kaldi.  While tending his sheep he noticed that the sheep became energetic after eating red "cherries" from a certain plant.  When seeing this he began to try a few himself, and he to was soon as overactive as his herd.  The story follows that a monk happened to pass by and reprimanded him for "partaking of the devil's fruit."  However the monks soon discovered that this fruit, from the gleaming plant, could help them stay awake for their prayers. 

Another legend gives us the name for coffee or "mocha," an Arabian was banished to the desert with his followers to die of starvation.  In desperation, Omar had his friends boiled and ate the fruit from the unknown plant.  Not only did the broth save the exiles, but also the residents of the nearest town, Mocha, took their survival as a religious sign.  The plant and its beverage were named Mocha to honor this event.

Originally the coffee plant grew naturally in Ethiopia, but then was transplanted in Arabia were it was monopolized.  The early use of coffee would have little to no appeal today, the Galla Tribe from Ethiopia used coffee, but not as a drink, they would wrap the beans in animal fat as their only source of nutrition.  The Turks were the first country to adopt it as a drink, often adding spices such as clove, cinnamon, cardamom and anise to the brew. 

Coffee was introduced much later to countries beyond Arabia whose populations believed it to be a delicacy and guarded its secret as if they were top-secret military plans.  The government forbade transportation of the plant out of the Moslem nations.  The actual spread of coffee was started illegally; an Arab named Baba Budan smuggled beans to mountains near Mysore, India, and started a farm there.  Early in this century, the descendants of those original plants were found still growing prolifically in the region. 

Coffee was believed to be the devil's drink.  Pope Vincent III heard this and decided to taste it before he banished it.  He enjoyed it so much he baptized it, saying, "Coffee is so delicious it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it."