For many people, coffee is the first ritual of the day. From a quick cup at home to elaborate cafe brews, it has become a familiar part of everyday life. But the story of coffee began thousands of kilometres away from today's coffee shops, in the highlands of Ethiopia.
As International Coffee Day is observed on October 1, the history of the beverage offers a chance to revisit its origins. Ethiopia is widely regarded as the birthplace of Coffea arabica, the species behind much of the coffee consumed around the world.
The coffee plant is native to the forests of southwestern Ethiopia, including the area historically associated with Kaffa. However, there is no confirmed historical record naming the person who first discovered coffee or documenting exactly when humans first consumed it.
The legend of an Ethiopian goatherd
One of the best-known stories about coffee centres on an Ethiopian goatherd named Kaldi. According to the legend, believed to date back to around the ninth century, Kaldi noticed something unusual about his goats after they ate bright red berries growing on a shrub.
The animals appeared unusually energetic, prompting Kaldi to try the berries himself. The story says he experienced a similar burst of energy and later took the berries to monks at a nearby monastery.
The monks initially rejected them. But after the berries were thrown into a fire, their aroma reportedly caught their attention. The roasted beans were then used to prepare a drink that helped the monks stay awake during long periods of prayer.
While the Kaldi story remains folklore rather than confirmed history, it has become one of coffee's most enduring origin tales.
How coffee spread beyond Ethiopia
Ethiopia may be the home of the coffee plant, but Yemen played a major role in turning coffee into the beverage recognised today.
By the fifteenth century, coffee drinking had been documented in Yemen. Sufi practitioners reportedly consumed it to remain alert during religious devotions. From Yemen, coffee gradually spread across the Middle East before reaching Europe and, eventually, other parts of the world.
Today, coffee is consumed across cultures and continents in countless forms. Yet behind every cup lies a history that can be traced back to the wild coffee forests of Ethiopia.