How coffee moved from Africa to Europe to America

Most of us take our morning coffee for granted without knowing beans about it. Check this colorful history and health benefits.

According to legend, sometime during the ninth century, an Ethiopian goatherd noticed his goats dancing from one coffee shrub to another, grazing on the cherry-red berries containing the beans. He ate a few himself and was soon frolicking with his flock. Witnessing the shepherd’s dance, a monk plucked berries for his brothers. It is said that by nightfall, his brothers were uncannily happy and alert to divine inspiration.

Coffee plants, woody perennial evergreens, were first cultivated on the Arabian Peninsula around 1100 A.D. By 1600 coffee had been introduced to Europe, and within 50 years, coffee houses began appearing in Italy.

Settlers of the New World brought coffee to Jamestown Settlement in Virginia and to the first villages of Canada. In the New World, coffee was first cultivated on the Island of Martinique by the French naval officer Gabriel de Clieu. Today, the coffee bean is a major crop in South American countries, Hawaii, Indonesia, and Africa. By the 1990s, more than one billion cups were consumed in the U.S. each year.

While medical researchers have documented that coffee can lead to the jitters, newer studies show that the brew is high in antioxidants and may limit the occurrence of certain cancers and chronic diseases. Caffeine has been proven to stimulate metabolism and break up fatty acids, aiding in maintaining proper weight.

Image by Bruno /Germany