Popular legend
attributes coffee’s
discovery to Kaldi,
an Arabian goat
herder whose hoofed
charges, after
munching on a red-
berried plant, were
gripped by an ecstatic
energy.
Modern historians, however, are largely
convinced by recent evidence of Coffea
Arabica’s Central Ethiopian origin and
subsequent export to and cultivation in
sixth century Yemen. Although
centuries-old coffeehouses in Cairo and
Mecca will attest to coffee’s longevity
and its universal appeal, the boundless
creativity and scientific innovation of
brewers has brought coffee
craftsmanship to levels of specialization
unfathomable to our ancestral
counterparts.
