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For my first blog, I wanted to start out with something that makes the most sense.\u00a0 After all I can\u2019t go back and hit the reset.\u00a0 This is my very first blog, and I want it to be great!!!<\/p>\n
\u00a0I can\u2019t think of a better start than just that, \u201cWhere coffee began\u201d.\u00a0 This information comes to you from Tristan Stephenson, Barista\u2019s Guide To Coffee, (which is a very good book by the way).<\/p>\n
\u00a0Tristan writes: \u00a0Our journey begins in Ethiopia.\u00a0 While it is generally accepted that Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee it\u2019s quite likely that it was simply the first place that crop truly flourished after spreading from the Sudan.\u00a0 Exactly when its leaves, cherries, or beans were first consumed is a mystery, though.\u00a0 What we do know is that around 2,000 years ago, the nomadic Oromos tribe, living in the kingdom of Kefa (in modern day Ethiopia), were known to have molded the leaves and fruit of the coffee tree into a kind of cake that could be sucked and chewed on \u2013 rather like a caffeinated chewing gum \u2013 giving them a temporary boost of energy.\u00a0 Later evidence is rather circumstantial, however.\u00a0 In the 5th<\/sup> century AD, the Kingdom of Aksum ruled the northern Ethiopia and parts of southern Egypt, and at the time, Aksum was doing a roast trade with the Roman Empire, but, alas, there\u2019s no record of a Toman ever drinking a cup of coffee. <\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It is possible that coffee was planted in the kingdom of Himyar (now part of modern-day Yemen) shortly after the Kingdom of Aksum had invaded.\u00a0 Falling that, the 7th<\/sup> century saw plenty more interactions between the people of Ethiopia and Yemen, on both a political and intellectual level.\u00a0 It also saw the rise of Islam \u2013 much to coffee\u2019s benefit.\u00a0 Some time later, the Arab trading routers from Yemen, coffee\u2019s domination of the Middle East.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The legendary tale of coffee\u2019s discovery is worthy of a mention, though.\u00a0 The store goes that it was first discovered by a young Ethiopian goatherder called Kaldi.\u00a0 This story, more than any other, has stuck because its cute.\u00a0 Vaguely believable, and open to a touch of embellishment, Kaldi was tending to his herd one evening when he noticed that they exhibited a certain friskiness after nibbling on the leaves and red cherries of a particular tree.\u00a0 Confused, and more than a little intrigued, Kaldi tried the fruit for himself.\u00a0 The effect was almost immediate \u2013 he felt energized, motivated and alert.\u00a0 Kaldi had discovered caffeine, the most widely used drug in world<\/u><\/strong> today. What happened next is open to debate, some say Kaldi took the fruit and leaves to elder, or religious men nearby, while others say that the influence of coffee made Kaldi rather \u201cattached\u201d to his herd.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In time, Yemen developed it\u2019s own story of the discovery of coffee, which tells the tail of a man called Omar who was condemned to die outside Mokha\u2019s city walls.\u00a0 During his wandering in the wilderness, Omar found a coffee tree and ate it\u2019s fruit, which gave him energy he required to return to the city.\u00a0 His survival was seen as a blessing, and so too was the discovery of the coffee plant, which subsequently became the beverages of choice for the residents of Mokha.\u00a0 The Arabs called the drink \u201cQwaha\u201d (the Arab word for wine), and since Muslim are forbidden to drink alcohol, coffee was probably about as close as they were likely to get to a bottle of plonk.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0So, there you have it, our very first blog.\u00a0 I really hope you enjoyed reading this and thank you for taking the time to do so.\u00a0 Please watch for the newsletter as I will announce when new blogs are published.<\/p>\n plicabo.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For my first blog, I wanted to start out with something that makes the most sense.\u00a0 After all I can\u2019t go back and hit the reset.\u00a0 This is my very first blog, and I want it to be great!!! \u00a0I can\u2019t think of a better start than just that, \u201cWhere coffee began\u201d.\u00a0 This information comes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t