Ethiopia: A land of legends and… coffee!
Greetings, coffee lovers!
Let’s begin this new entry with an easy question: when you think of the origins of your favorite drink, what country comes to your mind?
We're 90% sure you've always thought of Colombia. It’s a pretty common answer since the bean varieties this country has produced since 1835 are very popular all over the world. Also, mass media have been reminding us of its relevance in the world coffee production scheme forever. But the truth is this delicious beverage, brewed from the roasted seeds of the coffee tree, comes from a very different place and time. Let’s take a closer look at Ethiopia in the 9th Century.
(Original photo by Tracks4Africa.)
Not a single scientific evidence or primary historical source has corroborated this legend, but the most popular story we know about the discovery of coffee seems to come from the Ethiopian region of Kaffa, which is characterized by its endless mountains and fertile soil. It is said that a shepherd named Kaldi found his goats (or sheeps, it depends on who you ask) eating a never-seen type of red seed that changed their behavior: his animals, always gentle and peaceful, suddenly started to get nervous and fight each other.
The tale of Kaldi was first mentioned by Antoine Faustus Nairon, a Roman professor of Oriental languages, in De saluberrima potione cahue seu cafe nuncupata discursus (Discourse on the very healthy coffee beverage and description of its virtues, published in 1671). However, it wasn’t the earliest essay focused on the understanding of coffee: in 1587, the poet Sheik Abd-al-Qadir wrote In Praise of Coffee, a piece of work jealously preserved at the National Library of Paris.
Leaving aside the story of Kaldi, we know that in the 15th Century coffee cultivation, trade and consumption were already widespread in Yemen. Commerce between Yemen and Arabia was flourishing, so it helped lead to the birth of the “kaveh kanes” at Mecca. “Kaveh” or “qahwa” (قَهْوَة) means “coffee” in Arab. This is the original name of the coffee shops, where men gathered to talk about politics and social matters with a hot cup of coffee between their hands.
Due to some conservative beliefs around stimulant substances that were prevalent during those times, “Kaveh kanes” were closed down and forbidden by law over and over. Their growing popularity forced the authorities to legalize them again, but it happened in exchange for their owners paying elevated taxes.
For at least 200 years, Arabs kept control of the coffee exportation business by making sure the beans they sell were already roasted and ready for consumption. But in 1616, the Netherlands managed to introduce fertile seeds in Europe and, through colonization, the expansion of the coffee tree around the world became unstoppable. They called it “koffie”, and that’s much closer to the way we say it nowadays!
(This is how an Egyptian coffee shop was like in the 19th Century!)
We hope you enjoyed this brief introduction into the amazing world of coffee! We’ll be back next month with a new story to share with you. In the meantime, you can join our small and homely community on Discord to discuss the origins of this magical beverage we all love — and even Coffee Shop Tycoon, haha.
See you very soon, enjoy your coffee!
The Riff Studios team
