Coffee was Discovered by... Goats?

Who knew that your favorite morning drink was discovered by a goat? Yes, the drink that billions of people drink daily: Coffee. Below is the story of how a hungry goat discovered the drink that changed the world.

How Did this Happen?

Great question! While the specifics of the story are unknown, there is a strong belief of what happened - so here's the story:

It starts over 600 years ago on an Ethiopian plateau. There was a goat herder named Kaldi, and he had a group of goats that he took care of every day. On one of those days, he saw a goat of his eating a mysterious berry off a bush. He thought nothing of it, as goats regularly eat all sorts of plants and berries. Kaldi went on with his day, not knowing that he would soon discover one of the world's most popular drinks.

Later that night, while checking up on the goats, Kaldi noticed that all of the goats were sound asleep - except for one. That goat was, of course, the one that ate the mysterious berries earlier that day. Kaldi knew something was up, and so he decided to try a berry for himself (super smart, right?). That night, he stayed up dancing and singing, as he had so much energy that he couldn't go to sleep. One of his friends started to notice this nightly occurrence, and so he asked Kaldi what gave him so much energy. Kaldi explained to him that the berries he ate gave him lots of energy, and made it hard for him to sleep at night. Curiosity got the best of his friend, and so he too tried some of the berries. The same results happened to Kaldi's friend, and from then on, the news was quickly shared around the village, and soon, around the world. The End.

So in conclusion, the only reason that we drink coffee nowadays is because a hungry goat ate some berries off a bush. While not the most entertaining story, it definitely is a unique and interesting one.

So What Happened After?

While the story of how coffee was discovered to how it's the second most globally traded commodity can't be told in just one blog post, it can be summarized into a few points:

• After Kaldi's village discovered coffee, the news was shared around the Arabian Peninsula.
• Shortly after, coffee shops were created all around the peninsula.
• With coffee plants were only growing in Arabia, coffee beans were smuggled into India and planted on top of a hill. That hill soon became a large plantation for coffee.
• People in India started to drink coffee regularly, and many coffee shops opened across the country.

I'm sure you can finish the rest of the story yourself: Coffee continued to quickly spread, until it was a drink that every household knew of. And all of this thanks to a hungry goat.

Here at Sumato Coffee, we actually serve that delicious drink discovered by the goat! In fact, it's our passion, and we'd love to share it with you. You can check out all of our coffee blends here.