Coffee cultivation then really began to thrive across the Arabian Peninsula, and it was in full swing by the 15th century.įrom there, it spread through the Middle East and Europe, and European colonizers then brought coffee production to places like Sri Lanka, the Caribbean, Brazil and Central America, where enslaved populations cultivated coffee crops. Though humans invented many ways to consume these coffee berries in the earliest years of caffeine indoctrination - particularly the Sufis of Yemen who used coffee in a ritualized way that was connected to their mysticism - we didn’t get roasted coffee beans until the 13th century.

He decided to try them, and we can only guess what sort of experience that herder must have had for the rest of history to unfold in the way that it has. Legend has it that an Ethiopian goat herder, likely of the Oromo people, noticed that his goats would perk up whenever they ate the red berries that coffee beans come from. We don’t have documented proof of coffee’s origin story, but we are pretty sure that the history of coffee starts in Ethiopia. Long before a single drop of a Starbucks frappuccino ever landed on a suburban mall crawler’s tongue, coffee was just a plant that was minding its business. To understand its current grip on the heart rates of so many around the world, to understand how we got from “coffee berry” to “Bulletproof Coffee,” you have to go back to the beginning. The history of coffee runs deep, and the river of cold brew runs wide. Or, more accurately, cultures, because unless you plan on taking your cappuccino with hot coal anytime soon, drinking coffee in Italy is definitely not the same as drinking it in Indonesia. Is it that America runs on Dunkin’, or is it that the world runs on coffee? From its humble origins as an unassuming plant in Ethiopia to its current status as a fuel, lifeblood, social glue, creative medium, and major commodity all around the world, coffee is not just an essential daily ritual for over 1 billion people around the world - it’s the central organizing force for an entire culture.

Uncommon grounds coffee book