Legend has it that coffee originated in the Kingdom of Kefa (present day Ethiopia) in the tenth century B.C. Today’s coffee gets its name from its southern Arabian roots (Yemen) from Sufi monks who cultivated the plants in the fifteenth century A.D.
At that time, coffee was so linked to Islam that some other religions banned it as the “devils drink.” It was so controversial that the Pope was asked to weigh in. After receiving his approval, it spread rapidly, and coffee houses sprang up throughout Asia, Europe, and England in the sixteenth century. The seed from the coffee plant, Coffea arabica, eventually was called “Kahve” in Turkish, “Koffie” in Dutch, and finally the English “coffee” in the sixteenth century. It was introduced into the U.S. in about 1700. Later in the eighteenth century, Thomas Jefferson was alleged to say that coffee was “the favorite drink of the civilized world.” Today, about eleven million tons of coffee beans are produced annually with Brazil being the top producer. Finland leads the world in per capita coffee consumption at 3-4 cups per person daily.
Source: “The Best Part of Waking Up,” Biblical Archaeology Review, Spring, 2024, p. 22. Also: Various Internet searches.
