The journey that gave birth to your daily coffee.

A much more exciting tale than you might expect.

The coffee bean has been around for centuries, and the initial discovery of the plant as well is the beverage is uncertain. However, there is one legend that has remained popular to this day. The story goes, that an Ethiopian goat herder by the name of Kaldi noticed that his livestock would eat a specific plant, and then get quite energetic soon after. After noticing this, Kaldi took the plant and mixed it with berries, creating the very first version of coffee. After drinking some himself, he immediately noticed the effects of being wide eyed and alert. He found the effects to be so powerful, that he took the drink to a local Monk. The monk indulged Kaldi and drank a cup, and was blown away. Soon after, the monk shared it with the rest of his monastery, which then led to the drink gaining popularity throughout Africa and the middle east.

Coffee continued its upwards trajectory, and by the 16th century it was spread all over the Arabian Peninsula.Coffee was not only seen as a delicious drink that kept you awake, but also a social tool. Throughout the peninsula people would gather in the very first cafe’s , which at the time were referred to as, “Qahveh Khaneh. These weren’t the simply the cafe’s that we are used to today, instead these places were referred to as “The School’s of the wise”. Countless patrons would come from all over to enjoy not only the drink, but also the live music, political conversation’s, and even chess games. Because of this, as well as the Arabian Peninsula being the trade Mecca that it was, Coffee quickly caught the attention of anyone that visited. And often times, those visitors happened to be European.

As it began gaining traction in Europe, the darkly colored drink hit a bit of a snag. At the time, nearly all of Europe was strictly catholic, and not very adventurous. Essentially just because the drink was darkly colored, the pious people of Europe quickly condemned the drink is “the bitter drink of Satan”. This all sounds rather silly I know, but at the time this was a huge deal. It was not uncommon for entire families to shun a specific member simply for enjoying the drink. This issue grew so large, that eventually the pope was asked to step in. For the sake of the people, Pope Clement VIII was given a cup of coffee, took the first sip, and then immediately stated that the drink was too satisfying to be of the devil. With religious condemnation out of the way, nothing would slow the dark beverage down.

Coffee houses began sprouting up throughout Europe, as by the 17th century there were over 300 of them in London alone (including the first Lloyd’s Coffee House). People began opting for morning coffee’s rather than morning Tea’s, and those who did saw benefits. Those who started off with a cup of coffee before work discovered what nearly every American knows today, you begin more energized. Europeans began working much faster throughout the mornings than they previously had, and due to this as well as the taste, coffee soon overtook Tea as the breakfast beverage of Europe. This lead to places known as “Penny Universities” popping up throughout the continent. Similar to the schools of the wise from earlier, Penny Universities were places in which you could get a cup of coffee for one penny, as well as a thrilling conversation. At these places you were expected to come prepared to have an important conversation, and hopefully you would have left learning on thing.

As coffee took over Europe, the King of France received a gift from the mayor of Amsterdam in 1714, a coffee plant. The King (King Louis), saw that as a wondrous gift, and immediately demanded that it be planted in the famous Botanical Gardens. It wasn’t long after that, that King Louis was approached by a Spanish man named Francisco de Mello Palhetach. Francisco requested that a seed from the plant be given to him, in hopes that he could spread the wondrous plant throughout the new world. However, King Louis wasn’t exactly feeling generous on this specific day, and since there seemed to be no benefit to him he declined the request. Luckily for Francisco, he was a rather good looking man, at least the queen of France thought so. On his final day in France, the Queen gifted him a bouquet of flowers, and hidden within were coffee beans. Quickly, Francisco gave the beans to a merchant friend of his named Gabriel de Clieu, and ordered him to take them to the new world. De Clieu set of on his journey, which at the time was dangerous enough if things went smoothly, unfortunately it did not. The voyage was filled with horrific storms, pirates, and even a man on the ship who attempted to kill the plant before it arrived on the soil. Luckily, the crew overcame all of that, and delivered the plant to the new world. Quickly the plant took to the soil, and began to spread throughout the continent.

Coffee spread throughout the new world, and although it enjoyed a good amount of popularity, within the colonies Tea still remained supreme. Remember most of these colonists had come over to America before coffee truly took off, so the beverage was still a bit foreign to them. On top of that they were British, and they tend to prefer Tea. However, due to a previous war, Britain decided to tax tea within the colonies. It is safe to say that the colonists did not appreciate this, it may have even led to some sort of revolution but that’s not part of this story. While this did lead to a rise in coffee sale’s, what ultimately vaulted it to the heights we know today, was the Boston tea party. After this enormous event, Tea sales plummeted, and from it’s ashes, a new beverage rose to prominence. Since then, coffee hasn’t looked back, being more popular now than ever before.

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