The origin of coffee: a history and legend dating back more than 2,500 years
The philosopher's stone, the magnum opus of the alchemists, the legendary substance that everyone sought, capable of turning lead into gold or obtaining the elixir of life and granting eternal youth to whoever obtained it, is a legend with a mystical basis.
The history of the origin of coffee shares similarities with this, since many legends attribute the discovery of coffee to Muslim mystics who followed the path of Sufism.
And, like the philosopher's stone, coffee grants youth to those who drink it, even if only for a brief period: the time during which coffee's active chemical compound, caffeine, acts by stimulating the central nervous system.
But the story of coffee's origins doesn't make it any less fascinating just because it has a legendary glimmer, because there is no legend whose basis is not in historical reality.
The first written mention of coffee
Old map showing Abyssinia and Yemen, the possible origin of coffee
Coffee cultivation most likely began in the Harar Valley of Abyssinia ( present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea ) around 575 AD. The inhabitants of this area consumed coffee berries mixed with animal fats as an energy-boosting food.
But the first written mention we find is from a Persian scholar, physician, philosopher and historian, Ar-Razi, from the 10th century. In addition to talking about coffee, this scholar is credited with the discovery of sulfuric acid, ethanol and great contributions to medicine and philosophy.
The oldest story, although without historical basis and not accepted by Muslim scholars who have been responsible for verifying the transmissions about the life of the Prophet Muhammad, is that the origin of coffee is explained because it was given to this Prophet by the Archangel Gabriel as a drink “as black as the Kaaba of Mecca” and “that gives enough strength to knock forty men off their horses.”
Although this legend is probably false, it gives us a clue about the origin of coffee: by the 10th century it was already a well-known drink in the Arab world .
The legend of Kaldi the shepherd
Coffee plantation in Yemen
One of the best-known legends about the origin of coffee is that of the shepherd Kaldi, who tended his goats in the hills of Abyssinia on the shores of the Red Sea, near a monastery.
Kaldi noticed his goats eating a bush with red berries, and once they ate the berries, they began to jump around excitedly. He told this to one of the monks, who went with him, observed the goats' behavior, and collected some of the berries.
The monk tried various ways of consuming the berries until he found the recipe: he roasted and ground the seeds and used them to make a water extraction that remains in use today.
As a result of this cooking, the monks remained more alert during the night vigils while praying.
This gives us another clue: the place where botanists have traced the origin of coffee is Ethiopia . From there, it soon spread to Yemen.
The story of the scholar and physician Ali bin Umar
Yemeni man in front of a coffee plantation
Another legend about the origin of coffee is attributed to a mystic, scholar and doctor, Ali bin Umar, from Yemen.
This scholar and physician was banished from Tarim to the mountains of Yemen on a false accusation. In the mountains, he discovered a plant with white flowers and red berries.
Ali bin Umar observed the behavior of the animals after eating this plant - they became excited and reared up - and after a while and seeing that it did not harm them, he decided to make a decoction with it.
After several experiments, he developed the brew we know today as coffee, made from the seeds. He liked its flavor and effects so much that he soon after undertook the pilgrimage to Mecca, taking seeds from this plant with him.
Once in Mecca he encountered an epidemic and used coffee along with other plants to cure the sick.
In gratitude for his services he was pardoned and allowed to return to Tarim and this drink became popular throughout Yemen.
The probable journey of coffee
Group of Yemeni men drinking coffee
From this legend, we gain further clues to trace the journey of coffee. The coffee plant is native to Ethiopia , where it was probably consumed as food, but not as a beverage. From Ethiopia, it spread to Yemen, first arriving at the port of Mocha, and from there spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula.
The way it spread was in the form of a drink, so we can say that the current coffee drink originates in Yemen , although the plant was native to Ethiopia.
And the way in which it spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula, and later throughout the Muslim world first and then to the West, follows another legend.
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The drink of the Sufis
Sufi group of the Mevlevi Tariqa in Türkiye
It is said that it was a Shaikh (master) of a Sufi Tariqa (spiritual path) who offered this drink to his disciples to keep them awake during the long nights of Dhikr (invocations remembering God).
This master was Abu Hasan Al-Shadili, a well-known Moroccan scholar of the 13th century. He observed some birds that were very energetic after eating some berries while traveling in Ethiopia.
After tasting these berries he felt the same vitality and gave them to his disciples, among whom was a certain Umar who later took them to Yemen (and was probably the same Umar bin Ali who cured the epidemic in Mecca).
This drink became popular among Sufi Muslims as a stimulant for spiritual work , and it was they who spread it throughout the Muslim world through their gatherings.
Once again, we see that the legend of the origin of coffee tells us part of the truth: that the coffee drink spread from Yemen to the Arabian Peninsula and from there to the Muslim world first and then to the West .
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Coffee controversy in the Muslim world
Old photo of a Cairo cafe
But coffee did not always enjoy a good reputation among all Muslims.A translation of a manuscript by Al-Jazeera traces the spread of coffee from Arabia Felix (present-day Yemen) northward to Mecca and Medina. From there, and following one or more of the stories we've discussed previously, it spread to the larger cities of Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad, and Constantinople.
Associated with Sufism, many coffee houses were established in Cairo , around Al-Azhar University. Such cafes also opened in Syria, especially in the city of Aleppo, and later in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, in 1554.
But we all know that coffee is a powerful stimulant, and that when it works, it gets people talking, and when people talk, they think and understand each other. And this isn't always good for those in power.
Coffee ban
Old cafe in Istanbul during the Ottoman Empire
Coffee was banned by some imams in Mecca in 1511 , on the grounds that it was an intoxicant like alcohol, although with a milder effect.
As we well know, religion is often used to justify political needs , and this may have been one of those times. The reason seems to be that in these cafes, political opponents of the current authorities would gather to discuss politics and other issues of current social discontent, creating instability and simmering future and present revolts.
Coffee and the places where it was consumed were also banned in Cairo in 1532, which only supports this hypothesis that it was not so much a religious issue but a political one.
The Ottomans rejected the ruling that coffee was an impermissible drink for Muslims in 1524 by order of Sultan Suleiman I and Grand Mufti Mehmet Ebussuud el-İmadi.
The arrival of coffee in the West
Illustration of ancient Venice
What this 1511 ban and its subsequent revocation tell us is that coffee was a very popular beverage throughout the Muslim world , so popular that it merited the attention of scholars, mystics, and sultans.
If coffee was already very popular before the ban, once it was repealed, places to drink coffee multiplied. It became so popular that around the 16th century, as a measure to control the coffee market, it was forbidden to export coffee seeds that could germinate outside the borders of the Ottoman Empire .
Another legend says that it was Baba Budan, a Muslim pilgrim from India who went to Mecca, who secretly brought back seven seeds to his country around 1600; and that it was in Mysore—this pilgrim's birthplace—that coffee was first cultivated outside the Arabian Peninsula and Ethiopia.
In 1615 Venetian merchants brought coffee from Mocha to Europe , which began a lucrative business for the Arabs who guarded this precious seed with even more zeal.
But once coffee was already out there and such a lucrative business, it was only a matter of time before the custom of drinking coffee became established in the West and its cultivation spread across large tropical areas of the planet.
But that's another story...
Bibliography on the origin of coffee
Bennett Alan Weinberg, Bonnie K. Bealer. “The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug.” Routledge, 2004
“Coffee” on Wikipedia: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caf%C3%A9 Accessed on March 2, 2022
F. Smith, Reginald. “A History of Coffee.” In Coffee: Botany, Biochemistry and Production of Beans and Beverage. Croom Helm, 1985
Jeanette M. Fregulia. “A Rich and Tantalizing Brew: A History of How Coffee Connected the World.” University of Arkansas Press, Mar 4, 2019.
Myhrvold, Nathan. "Coffee." Encyclopedia Britannica, February 19, 2022, https://www.britannica.com/topic/coffee . Accessed March 2, 2022.
