Coffee - The Story Behind It

The story goes something like this.

Once upon a time, in 850 A.D. to be precise, a goat herder had taken a long trek through some fields to reach the grazing pasture of his flock. Man and animal were both tired after the long hike but then this was an everyday happening. Roaming around, the goat herder noticed some strange berries that were growing on a secluded area of the hill side. While he was pondering the berries he found that some the sheep were busy browsing through this new fruit. Too late to do anything he let them enjoy the feeding. Imagine his astonishment when a few minutes later he found that all trace of fatigue had gone out of his sheep. They looked up and ready for anything and fresh as morning dew.

Assuming, correctly, that the new berry might have something to do with this, the goat herder ate a few of them himself, what with being tired and all. As expected, a few moments later, he felt completely awake and freshened.

Now it so happened that a monk was passing by and the goat herder decided to narrate his experience to someone wiser than him. The monk took some berries for experimentation but he also scolded the goat herder for spreading fanciful tales of berries that woke you up.

On returning to the abbey, the monk told his brethren what he had heard and everyone decided to try and see for themselves what the fuss was all about. The unknown fruit was boiled in water and coffee was served for the first time.

It was initially used in Ethiopia before it found its way to the Arabian empire. In Arab lands, coffee was considered a sacred substance and exporting it was illegal.

However, thanks to a certain Arab called Baba Budan coffee escaped to the outer world. Word spread fast about this new beverage and its wonderful properties and in a short span of history coffee became one of the biggest commodities on the market.

Americans drink more than 4 billion cups of coffee every year.

While coffee is good known agent for getting rid of drowsiness there are also some health benefits. Coffee contains theophyline and asthma patients who drink coffee show 25% less symptoms. Regular consumption of coffee also lowers the risk of colon cancer by around 25%.

Of course, the sheer pleasure of drinking coffee is always there. Thanks to the Internet people can now order all sorts of coffees from anywhere in the world. The trend to buy coffee online and experimenting with different flavors has reached a frenzy since the growth of the Internet.

So take your time to try different types of coffee that have many flavors to offer. Different countries and cultures have different ways of preparing coffee. Perhaps it is time to give your taste buds and aroma sensors something new to take delight in.

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