I drink coffee pretty much every day, which is why you think I’d know a lot about its history, but I don’t! Learn along with me right now.
For those of you who have managed to avoid coffee or quit drinking it, good for you, but me, I love the stuff and can’t get enough. I’ve been drinking it since I was in my late teens, although back then, it was a little coffee with a lot of sugar and cream. Now I love it strong and black – give me a good dark roast any day! But no matter how much I drink it, I’ve never really thought about its history.
Did you know that coffee started with goats? Or, that it was used in rituals during the 1400s? Or that we have the Ottoman Empire to thank for learning to roast and grind the beans?
One day around 850 CE, a goatherd observed that his goats started acting abnormally after nibbling on some berries. The herder tried them himself, and soon enough, he was just as hyper. As the story goes, this was humanity’s first run-in with coffee. So, how did coffee go from humble plant to one of the world’s most consumed beverages?
Coffee is a major staple in households today, but it also served as a major staple for commerce and trade. There is so much more to learn about the history of coffee – watch this short history lesson from TedEd and Jonathan Morris:
