History of Coffee
Coffee, the most important ingredient of espresso originates from Abyssinia in today's Ethiopia and is probably named after the Kaffa province located in southwestern Ethiopia. According to the legend an Ethiopian goatherd named Kaldi surprised over lively behavior of his goats began to observe his goats and saw the animals eating red coffee berries. This legend known as the Legend of Dancing Goats can not be historically proven, however, coffee trees were first grown and first beverage from coffee beans originate from Ethiopia.
Coffee cultivation and coffee drinking from Africa first spread to Yemen which become a coffee supplier for the entire Arab world by the 15th century. With Ottoman Expansion throughout Middle East, North Africa and Southeastern Europe from the late 13th century to the late 15th century expanded also the consumption of coffee.
The first coffee beans were brought to Venice at the beginning of the 17th century from the Yemeni port Mocha which gave the coffee bean its nickname. One century later coffee became very popular beverage throughout Europe and was also introduced to Americas. After the famous Boston Tea Party in 1773 when the American colonists destroyed great amount of tea bricks belonging to British East India Company the colonialists as well as later citizens of the USA drank coffee instead of tea. Popularity of coffee continued to rise over the 19th and 20th century, while coffee today is an important part of daily life for billions of people throughout the world.