-
A Yemenite shepherd called Kaldi as he was taking his flock to pasture, noted that after grazing on certain berries his camels and sheep became excitable until late into the night. The shepherd described this curious event to the monks at the Chehodet Monastery. Intrigued, they set out to find out if there was truth in the strory.
It wasn't long before they discovered that the shepherd was right and decided to try the berries for themselves and began using them to stay awake for longer so they could pray and work better.
- The Church first declared coffee “ the devil’s drink”, until Pope Clement VIII decided to sanctify it.
- In the 17th Century, scientists believed that coffee was a poison: "On the Day of Judgement, anyone who has drunk it will emerge from the tomb as black as coffee grounds".
- In 1732 Johann Sebastian Bach composed his "Kafee-Kantate". Partly an ode to coffee and partly a stab at the movement in Germany to prevent women from drinking coffee (it was thought to make them sterile), the cantana includes the aria "Ah! How sweet coffee tastes! Lovelier than a thousand kisses, sweeter far than muscatel wine! I must have coffee…"
- In the 18th Century, King Gustav III of Sweden, believing it to be poison signed a death sentence, for people to be executed by drinking coffee. Despite receiving large doses, the guilty parties escaped death and lived until their ‘80s.
- A fire which broke out in deepest Abyssinia burnt thousands of coffee berries, releasing an incredible aroma. The only thing the poor farmers could do was try to use the remains of that fire. As a result they discovered how to roast coffee beans.
- One day, the Prophet Mohammed, feeling particularly tired, prayed to Allah to give him the strength to continue his pilgrimage. All the Prophet received in reply was a beverage as dark "as the sacred stone of Mecca". He drank it and was instantly revived. That beverage was called "qahwa", which in Arabic means coffee.
- According to several legends, coffee owes its popularity to a few sacks of coffee left behind by the Turks during their retreat from Vienna.