History of Coffee and legendary man behind it's discovery!

June 03, 2022

History of Coffee and legendary man behind it's discovery!

Ethiopia and coffee

Ethiopia is widely considered as the birth place of coffee.Many experts say that Ethiopia is the only place that coffee grew natively and the apocryphal story of Kalid is told over and over. Kalid was a goat herder who dsicovered coffee after witnessing the vigor that his goats received from eating coffee berries. He later brought these cherries to the monastery and shared them with the monks who exclaimed that they were a devil's work and hurled them into the fire. The aroma of the beans roasting in the fire was heavenly and the beans were raked from the fire and crushed to put out the embers! Realizing their mistake, they placed them into a jug and covered with hot water for preservation. Later the monks drank the brew and it helped them keep awake during nightly devotions. While this story is fun, in all actuality, it was likely that the people of nomadic Oromoo people first discovered the coffee plant and its invigorating properties. Many such stories about the origin of coffee are apocryphal and its actual discovery is something of much speculation.

The history of Ethiopian coffee

The rest of coffee's history in Ethiopia is quite turbulent! Ethiopia is undergoing many changes in their government. In the past 40 years alone, they have had three forms of government,from a military junta(derg) to the federal system today. Each of these systems have been met with much public dissatisfaction, rebellion and political upheaval. From 1998-2000 Ethiopia was involved in a war with Eritrea.This conflict with Eritrea have led many deaths and great misery. It also limited access to land and created the economic downturn. The cost of the war was estimated in billions of dollars!

Amidst the turbulent political and economic climate, the coffee farming in Ethiopia took a big hit! In 2003, the price of coffee plummeted lower than it ever has! The price of coffee was no longer covering the cost of production and, as a result many farrmers abandoned their crops. They were devastated ,not having enough money to cover the cost of repairs to their homes, purchase clothing or provide their children with an education. Many farmers migrated away from their farms to the city while others still remained with their coffee plantations.

Despite all of these hardship abd challenges, coffee remains Ethiopias BIGGEST EXPORT! At times, Ethiopian coffee farmers must compete and pair with larger companies with more power that often take most of the profit. Farmers make very little from these partnership and women in Ethiopias coffee industry make even less, sometimes as little as, 20USD a month! In 1957, the national coffee board of Ethiopia was formed to help improve the quality of Ethiopian coffee and to coordinate producers, traders and exporters. And recently, Fair Trade Organizations have been helping to ensure fair compensation of the coffee production.

coffee is so important to Ethiopians
they will literally spend hours each day drnking it.
the coffee ceremony is the Ethiopian culture’s that is most important social connection.
to be invited is a sign of respect and friendship .
each ceremony lasts 2-3 hours, and it’scommon for families to enjoy 2-3 of these ceremonies per day.
this is an event for the whole family, where even children participate in serving the coffee to the elders.
guests are frequently invited and conversation can range from politics to the local community and more.

Coffee preparing (coffee making process):-

Step 1: coffee is roasted fresh in a pan,

Step2: grind by hand using a tool similar to a

mortar and pestle,

Step3: brewed slowly in a

traditional piece of pottery by boiling over

an open fire.

Step 4: the coffee is poured out

slowly, to avoid pouring grounds along with the coffee and now enjoy drinking with your family and friends!

👉 Many take their coffee with a spoonful of sugar, but never with milk. more water is added to the pot and reboiled 2 more times, getting weaker with each brew.

though they may not taste as good, the 2nd and 3rd brews are just as important as the first.

How Large Is Ethiopian Coffee Production Today?

👉 is the world’s 5th largest coffee producing nation in the world, and the highest producing nation in Africa.Ethiopians consume about half of their country’s coffee, exporting only 3.5 million bags out of the 6.5 million produced.