An Ethiopian Legend coffee grown around the world can trace its heritage from centuries back to the ancient coffee forests on the Ethiopian plateau. There, legend says, goat herder Kaldi first discovered the potential of these beloved beans. Culturally, coffee is an important part of Ethiopian and Yemeni history. This cultural significance dates back to 14 centuries, which is when coffee was discovered (or not) in Yemen (or Ethiopia).Whether coffee was first used in Ethiopia or Yemen is a matter of debate and each country has its own myths, legends and facts about the origin of the drink.
Whatever the real origin of coffee, its stimulating effect undoubtedly made it popular. Ironically, although the Islamic authorities declared the drink to be intoxicating and therefore banned by the Quran, many Muslims were attracted to drinking as a substitute for alcohol, also banned by the Quran. Despite the threat of severe sanctions, coffee consumption spread rapidly among Arabs and their neighbors and even gave rise to a new social and cultural entity, the cafeteria. According to the ancient history of Ethiopia, an Abyssinian goat herder, Kaldi, who lived around 850 AD, discovered coffee. He watched his goats dancing enthusiastically and bleating loudly after chewing on bright red berries growing on nearby green bushes.
This national dependence on grain has been an economic stimulus for many countries in South and Central America. With the rise of lattes and frappuccinos becoming more popular, this has meant that coffee shops can use cheaper coffee beans in their coffee, which has hurt the economy of Latin American countries. The 2 mm long coffee borer beetle (Hypothenemus hampei) is the most harmful insect pest for the global coffee industry, destroying up to 50 percent or more of coffee berries on plantations in most coffee-producing countries. The United States saw this and talked with Latin American countries and, as a result, producers agreed to an equitable division of the U. Brazil, which like most other countries grows coffee as a commercial commodity, relied heavily on slave labor from Africa for the viability of plantations until the abolition of slavery in 1888. In 1871, John Arbuckle invented a machine that filled, weighed, sealed and labeled coffee in paper containers. Many countries in Central America were engaged in cultivation in the second half of the nineteenth century, and almost all of them involved the displacement and large-scale exploitation of indigenous peoples. According to a legend, coffee may have been invented by the Moroccan Sufi sheikh al-Shadhili who was traveling through Ethiopia when he observed that certain birds were suddenly filled with unusual energy after eating some berries.
Today, the coffee plant is grown in more than 70 countries around the world, with Brazil as the largest producer, followed by Vietnam and Colombia. For Catholics it was the “bitter invention of Satan”, which carried the smell of Islam, and seemed suspiciously as a substitute for wine as used in the Eucharist; in any case, it was forbidden. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, industrial roasting and grinding machines began to be used, vacuum-sealed containers were invented for ground roasts, and decaffeination methods were developed for green coffee beans. Canned coffee has been popular in Asian countries for many years, particularly in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. More than one hundred million people in developing countries have become dependent on coffee as their main source of income. Today, many companies seek to improve the livelihoods of coffee producers, as the main countries that produce the most coffee are still very underdeveloped. Coffee plants are grown in more than 70 countries, mainly in the equatorial regions of America, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent and Africa.
Many countries were engaged in cultivation in the second half of the nineteenth century, and in almost all of them it involved the displacement and large-scale exploitation of indigenous peoples.
