Coffee comes from the seeds of the coffee plant of which there are 2 main species – Coffea Arabica & Coffea canephora (robusta). The coffee plant is native to Ethiopia where it still grows naturally in its natural habitat.
It is said that the coffee plant was first spotted by an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi who happened to observe his goats go a bit hypo after chewing on some coffee berries. He then made a decision to try one or two himself & likewise had a caffeine hit.
It was not that long before the word spread all though Ethiopia although it was generally taken as a sort of medical stimulant when a person needed some added endurance like on a long hunting expedition or raiding expeditions (caffeine has a more noticeable effect on the body when just taken from time to time).
The Arabians were the 1st folks to actually farm coffee & treat it as a commercial crop & tried to create a monopoly on coffee production by doing their best not to let plants & fertile coffee seed be exported from the country.
It is claimed that the Turks were the first people to actually make a drink out of coffee beans in about 1453 AD & they afterwards opened the planet’s first coffee shop, something that is now seen across the world.
From there coffee slowly spread from country to country until it became the big worldwide commercial crop that it is today. The standard cup of coffee has grown to become something that many people just can’t seem to get through the day without.
The coffee plant is best grown in tropical areas. It is at its best growing at high altitudes between latitudes 25 degrees north & thirty degrees south.
Nowadays coffee is grown in over fifty nations around the planet, the biggest growing areas being in Brazil, Columbia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Yemen, Indonesia & Vietnam, & there are all sorts of great ways to prepare it like the Keurig B60 brewer.
Wouldn’t it be nice if that humble Ethiopian goat herder knew what an impact he had on the world!!!