The Legend of Kaldi & His Dancing Goats

Legend has it that the coffee bean was discovered as early as the 9th century by a young goat herder in Ethiopia called Kaldi.

One night he awoke from a distressing dream to discover his heard of goats were behaving very strangely. They were all frolicking around each other as if 'dancing'. 

He also noticed they were happily eating berries from a native bush.  Kaldi was intrigued by his goats behaviour and decided to try some of the berries himself.  He soon became full of vigour, forgetting his bad dream and joined in the merry dance.

After a while, Kaldi picked a basket of the berries and took them to a near by monastery to share with the monks.  It was soon discovered that the cherry-like fruit, once opened, contained two beans.  The monks noticed that their consumption energized them, and made them more alert.  They were able to hold longer prayer vigils and to study for longer periods of time and now no one fell asleep!

The knowledge of the energizing effects of the beans slowly began to spread.  As word moved east and coffee reach the Arabian Peninsula, it began a journey which would spread its reputation across the globe!

Today coffee is grown in a multitude of countries around the world.  Whether it is Asia or Africa, Central or South America, the islands of the Caribbean and the Pacific, all can trace their heritage to the trees in the ancient coffee forests in the Ethiopian Plateau.

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