Many colourful legends surround the origins of coffee cultivation. Some believe that coffee as we know it was first discovered in the 3rd century, when an Ethiopian goatherd called Kaldi noticed his herd behaving like young kids after eating some stimulating red coffee berries! The goat keeper shared his discovery with the abbot of a nearby monastery, who decided to test the power of the berry himself.



He poured boiling water onto the berries he had collected and made a drink which he found helped him to stay awake during long hours of prayer. While many other legends deal with the origins of coffee, its actual discovery remains a mystery – which is hardly surprising, given that coffee’s known history dates back thousands of years.