How humanity got hooked on coffee - Jonathan Morris

One day around 850 CE, a goatherd named Kaldi observed that, after nibbling on some berries, his goats started acting abnormally. Kaldi tried them himself, and soon enough he was just as hyper. This was humanity’s first run-in with coffee— or so the story goes.

When exactly people began consuming coffee is unclear— but at some point before the 1400s, in what’s now Ethiopia, people began foraging for wild coffee in the forest undergrowth. The reason coffee plants are equipped with lots of caffeine might be because it makes them unattractive to herbivores or more attractive to pollinators. But either way, people caught on to coffee’s advantages and began making tea from its leaves; combining its berries with butter and salt for a sustaining snack; and drying, roasting, and simmering its cherries into an energizing elixir.

Coffee rode trade routes into the Middle East, and its widespread popularity began brewing in earnest in the 1450s. Upon returning from a visit to Ethiopia, a Sufi leader recommended that worshippers in Yemen use coffee during ritual chants and dances. Soon enough, people within the Ottoman Empire began roasting and grinding the beans to yield a darker, bolder beverage.

Many gathered in guesthouses and outside mosques to partake in coffee’s comforts. But authorities grew concerned about whether coffee’s influence was innocent or intoxicating, and if Muslims should be allowed to drink it. Indeed, in 1511, a religious court in Mecca put coffee on trial.

Scholars finally deemed it permissible, so coffeehouses sprang up in Damascus, Istanbul, and beyond, where clientele could sip coffee, smoke, and enjoy a variety of entertainment. By the late 1500s, people in Yemen were farming coffee and exporting it from the port of Al-Makha, which became known in other parts of the world as Mocha. But coffee was eventually transported— or smuggled— into India, and soon took root in Java and beyond.

Meanwhile, the Ottoman Empire introduced the stimulating substance to Europe. Central London’s first coffeehouses opened in the 1650s. By 1663 there were more than 80.

And despite King Charles II’s attempt to ban them in 1675, coffeehouses kept simmering as social and intellectual hotbeds. In 1679, for instance, patrons of Garraway’s coffeehouse had the pleasure of watching Robert Hooke, the scientist who coined the term “cell,” publicly dissect a porpoise. In France, people began mixing coffee with milk and sugar.

And throughout the 1700s, Paris’ coffeehouses hosted Enlightenment figures like Diderot and Voltaire, who allegedly drank 50 cups of coffee a day. Granted, these were likely small servings of comparatively weak coffee— but still, impressive. Meanwhile, European empires began profiting off coffee-growing, establishing enslaved or exploited workforces in Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

As cultivation boomed in Latin America, fueled by slavery, growers displaced Indigenous populations and burned forests to establish ever-expanding plantations. By 1906, Brazil was exporting over 80% of the world’s coffee. That same year, the Milan World’s Fair showcased the first commercial espresso machine.

And alongside the development of industrial roasting equipment came various coffee brands. By the mid-1950s, about 60% of US factories incorporated coffee breaks. As African countries cut colonial ties, many ramped up coffee production.

And coffee drinking also later made inroads in East Asia, especially as canned, pre-prepared beverages. In more recent decades, specialty coffees with an emphasis on quality beans and brewing methods grew popular and propelled farms in Central America and East Africa. Yet coffee workers worldwide continued to endure inhumane conditions and insufficient compensation.

This motivated certification efforts for coffee production that met ethical standards, including minimum wage and sustainable farming. But issues still loom over the industry. And because of climate change, the equatorial “Bean Belt” where coffee thrives is projected to shrink in upcoming decades.

It’s unclear exactly what this might look like. But scientists are investigating possibilities like resilient coffee hybrids that might help weather the unpredictable future— all to protect the beverage that’s become a cherished part of daily rituals worldwide.