Over the past six weeks, I have consumed enough coffee for our entire study abroad group. I drink it at breakfast. I drink it at "tea time." Most importantly, though, I drink it late into the night when I am trying to finish up papers on topics like "How to solve the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." It is my drug. It is my helping hand. It is my lifeline.
Legend has it that Kaldi's goats started eating the berries from coffee trees one day and never wanted to go to sleep. Kaldi then tried the berries himself and began dancing with his goats at night! He then reported back to some monks at a local monestary and they made a drink out of it. The drink helped the monks stay awake for long evening prayers. From there word slowly spread throughout the region, eventually reaching the Arabian Peninsula, where it was first cultivated!
While I could write all day about the benefits of coffee and why I love it, I am instead here to tell you about the history of coffee that I stumbled upon while doing research for our group presentation on Sub Saharan Africa. Although we think of Colombia when we hear the word coffee, the coffee bean was actually discovered in Ethiopia by a goatherder named Kaldi.
Legend has it that Kaldi's goats started eating the berries from coffee trees one day and never wanted to go to sleep. Kaldi then tried the berries himself and began dancing with his goats at night! He then reported back to some monks at a local monestary and they made a drink out of it. The drink helped the monks stay awake for long evening prayers. From there word slowly spread throughout the region, eventually reaching the Arabian Peninsula, where it was first cultivated!Coffee is the second most-consumed beverage in the world today behind only tea, and approximately half of the United States drinks coffee every day! Starbucks, Jittery Joes, and myself have Kaldi to thank for our success that has brewed (pun intended) as a result of this energy-boosting beverage!
Many of you have probably heard of Cumberland Island and possibly even been there. I've been to the Georgia coastal island a few times and one memory always sticks out in my mind.
ReplyDeleteOn one of the tours I took there years ago, the guide mentioned a particular kind of tree that the Native Americans considered sacred. According to legend, a tea brewed from the leaves of the tree would make a man invincible for up to three days.
Modern day scientists have since tested the chemistry of the tree's leaves and made some interesting discoveries. Apparently, the leaves contain 10 times the caffeine concentration of a shot of espresso.
Basically, the 'invincibility' the Native Americans experience was simply one of the world's first examples of a major caffeine rush.