It would be hard to overestimate the impact of coffee on human history. This potion has been introduced, banned and re-welcomed into countless cultures. Here in the States, it is arguably the most powerful legal mind-altering substance around. I've even heard that coffee is second only to oil as the world's most traded commodity. How it actually came to be so popular and influential is a classic international epic, but the legend of it's discovery really gets to the heart of our relationship to this magical brew.
According to legend, an Ethiopian goatherder named Kaldi was out tending his goats one day. He noticed them leaping and prancing around after eating berries off of a certain bush, so he partook of the berries and joined his goats in their revelry. Excited about this discovery, Kaldi took the berries to a local holy man, who pronounced them evil and threw them in the fire. However, Kaldi was so entranced by the aroma coming off of the burning beans that he gathered the ashes, steeped them in water, and had the world's first cup of coffee.
Now, all legends aside, Kaldi's find is so ubiquitous that "a cup of coffee" is a catch-all term for many kinds of small gatherings. We have coffee snobs, coffee house culture and coffee klatches. Some of us love the dark brew so much we even drink it decaffinated. Coffee is so ingrained into our lifestyle that most of us barely even associate it with the plant in it's raw form.
Still we continue to fall in love with coffee. The all-nighter is an American student's right of passage. The shops where we serve coffee still serve as intimate local gathering places. Artists in any number of media claim coffee as a main source of fuel. We dance like the legendary goats, and the dance shows no sign of stopping.
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