The cultivation of the coffee plant and the roasting and brewing of its beans into a stimulant drink, a tradition credited by a popular but almost certainly legendary story to an Ethiopian goatherd named Kaldi, said to have noticed his goats' excitement after eating coffee berries. The earliest credible evidence of coffee drinking comes from 15th-century Yemen, where Sufi monks brewed it to stay awake through nighttime devotions, after which its cultivation and use spread through Mecca, Cairo and Constantinople and into the coffeehouse culture of the Ottoman world. Turkish coffee culture and tradition was added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2013, honoring the specific preparation, unfiltered and slowly brewed to a foam, that spread from that history.
Facts
Origin Period, From (Year) Origin RegionThe Ethiopian highlands, the historic Kaffa region, native home of the Coffea plant; cultivation and the practice of roasting and brewing coffee as a prepared beverage are documented in Sufi monasteries and coffeehouses of 15th-century Yemen. 1 Connections
Expressed By
Coffee, Drinks Source The Oxford Companion to FoodAlan Davidson
Sources
1. History of Coffee (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Encyclopaedia BritannicaDiscovery and spread from Ethiopia sectionQuote, Discovery and spread from Ethiopia section
One of many legends about the discovery of coffee in Ethiopia is that of Kaldi, a goatherd who was puzzled by the strange antics of his flock.
The Oxford Companion to Food
Alan Davidson, Oxford University Press, 2014- entry: Coffee
- Expressed By: Coffee, s.v. Coffee
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.