International Coffee Day

Coffee is believed to have originated in the highlands of Ethiopia, where it was first discovered by a goat herder named Kaldi in the 9th century. According to legend, Kaldi noticed that his goats became unusually energetic after eating the berries of a certain plant, and he decided to try them himself. He found that they had a similar effect on him, and he shared his discovery with the local monks. The monks experimented with different ways of preparing the beans and eventually developed a method of roasting and brewing them that produced a drinkable beverage. The use of coffee spread throughout the Arab world, where it was first cultivated, and then to Egypt, Persia, and Turkey. By the 15th century, it had reached the rest of the Middle East, and by the 16th century, it had spread to Italy, and from there to the rest of Europe. In the 17th century, the Dutch began to cultivate coffee in the East Indies, and by the 18th century, the French and the British had also begun to grow coffee in their colonies. With the development of steam-powered ships and railroads in the 19th century, coffee could be transported more easily, and its popularity grew rapidly. Today, coffee is grown in many countries around the world, but the largest producers are Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia and Indonesia. It's one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world and has a rich cultural history.