Coffee Legend

How did coffee first come to be?  Did someone look at a waist high green shrub and say “You know, I bet you that if I took that plant’s mature red berry, removed its pulp and surrounding parchment, washed or dry-processed it, roasted it, ground it to a fine powder, and then slowly poured nearly boiling water over it and filtered out the grains, I would be left with a truly delicious and energizing beverage? Probably not. So how did people figure it out? We will probably never know the details, but there are few legends that try to explain it.  Here is one popular version: Kaldi and his dancing goat

The Legend of the Dancing Goats

            Once upon a time in Ethiopia, there was a staid goat-herder named Kaldi who herded equally staid goats. One evening, the goat-herder was surprised to discover that his goats had failed to return to their stable.  He went out into the night to look for them.  His surprise was significantly intensified when he finally came upon his herd: his goats were gathered together and appeared to be dancing vigorously in the moonlight. 

            Perplexed, the goat herder discovered that they were munching on the red berries of a dark leaved shrub.  He concluded that this was the cause for their energetic movements. By this time, the goat herder was quite hungry himself, and a fair bit sleepy.  Perhaps because this, he decided to throw caution to the wind, and joined his goats in eating the mysterious fruit.

            Sometime later, a neighbourhood monk came upon this unique group composed of goat herder and goats dancing about with unabashed glee. Coming to the same conclusion as the goat herder, the monk decided to bring back some of the berries to the monastery.  Being more scientifically minded then Kaldi or his goats, he conducted various experiments on the berry before trying it out himself. Trying various preparation methods, he particularly enjoyed one combination where he would boil the roasted berries, leaving behind a steaming brew.  After a few sips, the monk found that he could now pray long into the night without getting drowsy.  So he spread the word about this wonderful drink across Ethiopia, and across the world.