Coffee: From the Highlands of Ethiopia to the World

Coffee plants are native to the highlands of Ethiopia, where forests still hold wild coffee. A famous legend tells of a goat herder named Kaldi who noticed his goats dancing after eating red berries. The tale first appeared in writing in the seventeenth century, long after coffee was already known, so it is probably a story rather than history.

What is better documented is coffee drinking in Yemen by the fifteenth century, where Sufi communities used it to stay awake during night prayers. From Yemen, coffee spread to Mecca, Cairo, Damascus and Istanbul. The port of Mocha gave its name to a style of coffee.

Coffeehouses became social centers across the Ottoman world, places for conversation, music and games. They were sometimes called schools of the wise, because people gathered to talk about news and ideas.

In the seventeenth century, coffee reached Europe through Venice and other trading cities. Coffeehouses opened in Oxford, London, Paris and Vienna, and became meeting places for merchants, writers and scholars.

Dutch and French colonists then planted coffee in places such as Java, the Caribbean and Brazil. Brazil is now the world’s largest producer. Many cultures have a coffee ritual of their own, from Ethiopian ceremonies to Italian espresso at the bar.

The story in more depth

Coffee became important to many cultures. In Ottoman Istanbul, coffeehouses opened in the 1550s, and the method of boiling finely ground coffee with water in a cezve, or ibrik, became known as Turkish coffee, a tradition that UNESCO recognized as intangible cultural heritage in 2013. Coffee was sometimes banned and sometimes celebrated; governments worried that coffeehouses encouraged political talk.

In Europe, the beverage was introduced to Venice in the early seventeenth century, and cafés such as Caffè Florian, opened in 1720 in St Mark’s Square, are still open. Vienna’s coffeehouse culture grew after the Ottoman siege of 1683, with legends about sacks of coffee left behind. In Italy, the invention of steam espresso machines from the 1880s, with Angelo Moriondo in Turin and later Luigi Bezzera and Desiderio Pavoni, led to espresso bars.

Colonial plantations spread coffee to Java, the Caribbean and the Americas. Brazil became the leading producer in the nineteenth century, and Colombia, Vietnam and Ethiopia are major producers today. Vietnam developed a robusta-focused culture, with strong coffee served with condensed milk, and egg coffee in Hanoi. In recent decades, specialty coffee and fair-trade movements have reshaped how coffee is grown and sold.

A timeline

• Before 1000 CE: Coffee plants grow wild in the highlands of Ethiopia.
• 1400s: Coffee is drunk in Sufi monasteries in Yemen.
• 1500s: Coffeehouses open in Mecca, Cairo and Istanbul.
• 1600s: Coffee reaches Europe, and coffeehouses open in Venice, Oxford, London and Paris.
• 1720: Caffè Florian opens in Venice.
• 1884: Angelo Moriondo patents an early espresso machine in Turin.
• 1938: Nestlé introduces Nescafé instant coffee.
• 1971: Starbucks opens in Seattle.

Regional styles and variations

• Espresso: a small, strong shot brewed under pressure.
• Turkish coffee: finely ground coffee simmered in a pot and served unfiltered.
• Ethiopian coffee ceremony: roasted, ground and brewed in a jebena clay pot.
• Vietnamese coffee: strong coffee dripped through a small filter with condensed milk.
• Cappuccino and latte: espresso with steamed milk.
• Cold brew: coffee steeped in cold water for many hours.

Buying, tasting and choosing well

Fresh roasted beans make the biggest difference. Buy whole beans with a roast date, store them in an airtight container away from light, and grind just before brewing. Two main species are grown: arabica, with complex, sweet flavors, and robusta, stronger and more bitter with more caffeine. Water temperature, grind size and brew time can all be adjusted to taste, and fair-trade or direct-trade coffees can help farmers.

Did you know?

• Coffee “beans” are the seeds of a fruit called a coffee cherry.
• Finland drinks more coffee per person than almost any other country.
• Brazil produces roughly a third of the world’s coffee.
• Coffee is one of the most traded commodities in the world.

Eating it today

Coffee is both an everyday ritual and a global industry. Whether a cup comes from a Venetian café, an Addis Ababa ceremony or your kitchen, it carries centuries of exchange. Climate change threatens many coffee-growing regions, so supporting sustainable growers is increasingly important.

Countries connected to this story

• Ethiopia: the birthplace of the coffee plant, with a coffee ceremony that is central to hospitality.
• Yemen: the early center of coffee cultivation and trade, via the port of Mocha.
• Turkey: famous for Turkish coffee and the early coffeehouse tradition.
• Italy: the home of espresso, cappuccino and the espresso bar.
• Brazil: the largest coffee producer in the world.
• Vietnam: a major producer, known for robusta and egg coffee.
• Austria: whose Viennese coffeehouse culture is also listed by UNESCO.

Where to try it

• Caffè Florian (Venice, Italy): a historic café on St Mark’s Square, open since 1720.
• Café Central (Vienna, Austria): a famous Viennese coffeehouse in a grand hall.
• Tomoca Coffee (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia): a well-known Ethiopian coffee roaster and café, founded in the 1950s.
• Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots (Paris, France): historic cafés in Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

These are well-known examples, not paid recommendations or rankings, and places change. Check opening times and details before you travel.

Well-known brands

• Lavazza: an Italian coffee company founded in Turin in 1895.
• Illy: an Italian coffee company from Trieste, founded in 1933.
• Nescafé: an instant coffee brand launched by Nestlé in 1938.
• Starbucks: a coffeehouse chain that began in Seattle in 1971.
• Tomoca: an Ethiopian coffee brand.

Brands are named as widely known examples of makers, not as endorsements.

Many food origins are disputed. This story summarizes commonly cited accounts as an introduction, not the final word.