How An Ancient Goat Herder's Discovery May Have Led To The First Cup Of Coffee

The popular saying states that love makes the world go round, but we'd give credit for that to coffee. One of the most popular drinks in the world, the dark brew boosts brain activity and provides benefits like enhanced concentration. So, who can we thank for discovering this wonderful substance? There are many myths and no certain answers, but the best-known tale places coffee's origins in Ethiopia. As the story goes, a goat herder named Kaldi was hanging out around 850 A.D. when he noticed his goats were hyperactive. Seeing that they were eating red beans from a bush, he decided to try them and liked them so much that he took them to a nearby monastery. There are several versions of what happened after, but the gist of them all is that the monks put them in water and loved the scent of the drink so much they started consuming it regularly.

But food history is rarely straightforward, especially since stories are usually written once an ingredient has already become widely popular. If true, Kaldi's story was passed down through oral tradition and finally written down in 1671. It's quite possible that someone at some point just made up the story and began to tell it until it became part of local lore. In fact, Yemen disputes Ethiopia's claim and says it was a doctor-priest named Sheikh Omar who discovered the plant while exiled in the desert. Who is right? We will probably never know for sure.

Though we can't be certain of coffee's origins, we do know that in the 15th century, Yemen was growing and exporting coffee to neighboring regions and throughout the Ottoman Empire. From there, it spread to Europe. By  the 17th century, coffee houses were extremely popular in places like Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) and London. It was at this time that Europeans decided to end Yemen's near-total monopoly over the product by exporting the beans to areas they had colonized in Asia and the Americas. Coffee thrived in these regions and Yemen was slowly edged out of the nascent industry. Today, four of the top five coffee-producing countries in the world are in either South America or Asia. The fifth is, unsurprisingly, Ethiopia.

Given that Ethiopia is one of the few places in the world where wild coffee still grows, we're inclined to believe it has the rightful claim as the birthplace of the drink. We're less sure of the goat herder story, since it's unlikely a single person would be responsible for discovering the beans. It's more probable that coffee developed as most foods do: slowly and over time. That said, we do have to thank Yemen for its role in bringing coffee to the world at large. So, whether you're one to brew a simple cup at home or spend hundreds of dollars on civet poop coffee, know that you're enjoying a product that has taken centuries to reach its current (delicious) form.