HISTORY

Nobody knows for certain exactly when this extraordinary bean was discovered. However, legend tells us that long ago, in what is now called Ethiopia, a young goat herder named Kaldi observed his goats dancing wildly while eating the red fruit from nearby shrubs. Intrigued, Kaldi joined in the goat's feast and was amazed by the fruit's stimulating affects. Word spread quickly and, soon after, the monks from a local monastery used the red fruit as the base for a religious ceremonial drink to keep the monks awake during long hours of prayer.

Since then, coffee has been used as a medicine, a wine and even an aphrodisiac. Coffee cultivation began sometime in the fifteenth century and for many centuries to follow the Yemen province of Arabia was the world's primary source of coffee. Soon, coffee made its way into Europe, through Venice, where it gained popularity with the masses as street vendors began selling it in addition to cold beverages.

By the middle of the 17th century the Dutch dominated the world's merchant shipping industry and soon introduced coffee cultivation to their colonies in Indonesia including Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Bali.

In 1773, when King George levied a heavy tax on tea, angry settlers turned to coffee, causing coffee's popularity in America to soar. With the dawn of the nineteenth century, Brazil emerged as the world's foremost coffee producer. Even today, Brazil and much of the neighboring Latin American countries still supply about 65% of the world's coffee. Coffee has played an important roll in American culture, keeping the cowboys warm on the frontier, and was a staple of soldiers in both world wars. In fact, coffee was in such demand during WWII rationing, that an active black market developed. Today, coffee continues to play an important role in American and other cultures around the world, helping hundreds of millions of people begin each day.