Did you know that it was the goats who discovered coffee first? Yes, THE GOATS, those adorable furry farm animals.
Legend says it was the goatherd Kaldi who was first to discover the coffee tree with the help of his flock of goats. One day his herd was showing strange behavior, they were so energetic and tireless even at the wee hours. This made Kaldi puzzled for days until he found out that his goats were eating a berry like fruit. With his curiosity, Kaldi also chewed on the fruits and noticed that they’re not berries as it has an unappealing taste of bitterness. To his surprise, Kaldi felt energized and reinvigorated, fading all his weariness away. He shared it with the monks in their local monastery and later became their regular drink to keep them awake during long prayer sessions.
We, coffee lovers, owe these goats big time! If they hadn’t nibbled on that plant, mornings would be cold and gloomy, eyes stay droopy, the world would be unsightly…I can go on… You know how coffee-less mornings feel like. So next time you see a goat, give ‘em a good slow petting.
There are other stories attributed to the discovery of coffee but this one seems more non-fictional to me despite people claiming it as apocryphal as it hasn’t been put into writing until 1671. I find this legend pretty realistic because I believe Ethiopia is where coffee really originated. Currently, Ethiopia is Africa’s top coffee producer and the 6th worldwide.