Did you know how and when the wonder of Coffee was invented?

Thank god for this beautiful invention of life

One of the greatest wonders of beverage that has been given to mankind is Coffee. This brewed drink is prepared from roasted coffee beans which are a product of the seeds of berries extracted from certain flowering plants in the Coffea genus.

Grown on a tree there are seeds that are extracted from the coffee fruit. The seeds separated are converted into a more stable and raw product, known as the unroasted green Coffee. It is these seeds that are roasted until it comes to brown colour, the sole identity of Coffee. But have you wondered how was the coffee tree invented, how the process of roasting invented, how the idea of brewing the coffee beans into a drink came into existence, and who was the genius behind this discovery?

The Historical Account Of Invention Of Coffee  

According to a legendary account, the invention of Coffee can be attributed to Sheikh Omar. As per a tale recorded in the Abd-Al-Kadir manuscript, Omar - known for his blessing of curing the sick through his prayers - was once exiled from Mocha in Yemen to a desert cave near Ousab. In exile, out of starvation, Omar started chewing berries from nearby shrubbery. But found the berries too bitter and decided to roast the berries to improve the flavor, however, they became hard. Then Omar boiled the roasted berries to soften them, but it resulted in a fragrant brown liquid. Omar then drank the liquid, felt revitalized, and sustained for days. As this story of a ‘miracle drug’ reached Mocha, Omar was called back and declared a saint.

Another legend has that the ancestors of the Oromo people in Jimma, Ethiopia were the first to discover the energizing effect of the coffee plant.

There also exists a funny story of a 9th-century Ethiopian goatherd, Kaldi who stumbled upon the stimulating effect of Coffee when he found his goats getting excited and energetic after eating the beans from a plant.

The Chronicled Transmission Of Coffee From Yemen To The World

The earliest recorded evidence of coffee drinking is in the middle of the 15th century in the accounts of Ahmed al-Ghaffar in Yemen. Back then Coffee was used a lot by Sufi circles in order to stay awake for their religious rituals. It is believed that Coffee could have been introduced from Ethiopia to Yemen.

But by the 16th century, Coffee had reached the rest of the Middle East, Persia, Turkey, and northern Africa. And it was Sufi Baba Budan from Yemen who smuggled coffee beans to the Indian subcontinent during the time.