Coffee is one of the most popular drinks all around the world, with local varieties and preparations found in almost every corner of the globe.
But how did it get that way? Come with us while we explore the origins of coffee and how it spread across the continents.
The Legend The origins of coffee are shrouded in myth.
Some accounts involve individuals in Ethiopia noticing either birds or goats eating coffee beans and experiencing high levels of energy, which the individual themselves then tried with the same results.
Others involve starving exiles trying to make the most of coffee's bitter berries by cooking them.
These ancient anecdotes are typically fanciful, with names added to give the accounts authenticity.
None of them is known to be true.
The Facts What we do know is that coffee's energizing effect was first recognized in Ethiopia by the ancestors of the Oromo people.
It is believed that the Oromo had been using coffee beans as far back as the 13th century, but the first written records involving coffee are from the mid-15th century.
These records come from Sufi monks in Yemen, meaning the knowledge of coffee had spread from nomadic Ethiopians to the Arabian peninsula.
In Arabia The Sufis used coffee to stay awake during nighttime devotionals and it became a popular import to Yemen.
Coffee houses quickly started to pop up across Arabia, with the first in Constantinople becoming so popular so quickly that it created religious uproar.
Religious leaders tried to ban coffee, but the bans were overturned within a few years.
To Europe and Beyond European travelers were quick to notice coffee in the Arab world and the shrewd Venetian merchants who traded with Muslims for African goods quickly added the beans to their supply lines.
These merchants then introduced coffee to the wealthiest citizens of Venice as a luxury drink with a hefty charge.
Despite the high cost, coffee became wildly popular and spread throughout Europe.
Just like in the Arabian peninsula, religious leaders tried to ban the drink until Pope Clement VIII decreed that Catholics could consume it.
After that point, coffee spread wherever Europeans went.
Eventually, demand in the New World became so high that a more local supply needed to be created.
Coffee seedlings were transported to the Caribbean in the early 18th century and they flourished, enabling the further spread of coffee to plantations across the Americas.