Origins and Domestication
Coffee originates in the ancient forests of Ethiopia, where a goat herder, Kaldi, realized the potential of these beans. According to the legend, after consuming berries from a specific tree, his goats became so hyperactive that they did not sleep at night. Kaldi told the abbot of the local monastery, who took the berries and made a drink, thus staying awake during the long hours of evening prayer. The abbot shared the news with the other monks of the monastery, and the knowledge of the energizing berries spread.
Popularity and Influence
Asia
Cultivation and trade of coffee began on the Arabian Peninsula, where it was grown in the Yemeni district of Arabia, and by the 16th century, it was known in Persia, Egypt, Syria, and Turkey. Coffee houses, called qahveh khaneh, became such an important center for the exchange of information that they were often referred to as "Schools of the Wise." With thousands of pilgrims visiting the holy city of Mecca each year, knowledge of this "wine of Araby" began to spread.
Europe
It was stories from European travelers about an unusual dark black beverage that were brought back from the Near East, and by the 17th century, coffee had made its way into Europe and was gradually rising in popularity across the continent. Others were suspicious, even fearful, of this novel drink; it was called the "bitter invention of Satan." When coffee reached Venice in 1615, the local clergy condemned it, but Pope Clement VIII took a more sensible approach to the beverage: he decided to try it himself. Such controversy notwithstanding, coffee houses rapidly emerged as centers of social activity and communication within the major cities of England, Austria, France, Germany, and Holland.
By the mid-17th century, there were over 300 coffee houses in London, many of which attracted like-minded patrons, including merchants, shippers, brokers, and artists. Many businesses grew out of these specialized coffee houses, such as Lloyd's of London, which came into existence at the Edward Lloyd's Coffee House.
America
In the New World, it was brought to New Amsterdam, later called New York by the British. Though tea continued to be the favored drink in the New World until 1773, when the colonists revolted against a heavy tax on tea imposed by King George III. The Boston Tea Party would forever change the American drinking preference to coffee.
Production and Development
Plantations around the world continued to grow as the demand for the beverage continued to spread, with the Dutch finally getting seedlings in the latter half of the 17th century. In 1714, the Mayor of Amsterdam gave a gift of a young coffee plant to King Louis XIV of France, who ordered it to be planted in the Royal Botanical Garden in Paris. Gabriel de Clieu managed to get a seedling from the King's plant and safely delivered it to Martinique, where it is credited with spreading more than 18 million coffee trees on the island in the next 50 years.
Missionaries, travelers, traders, and colonists continued to carry coffee seeds to new lands, and thus the plantations were set up around the world. In the 18th century, ending, it had become one of the most profitable export crops in the world, next only to crude oil.