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According to research, the origin of coffee trees dates back to the ancient Ethiopian highlands. The legend of the Ethiopian goat herder Kaldi claims that in these highlands, coffee was first converted into a stimulating drink. This brewing occurred after Kaldi noticed that his goats could not sleep after consuming coffee berries. Kaldi then shared his discovery, and before long, there was a rapid spread of coffee and its reputation.

However, coffee trade and cultivation started with the Arabs. According to records, there was coffee cultivation in Yemeni, a district in Arabia, by the fifteenth century. By the sixteenth century, coffee cultivation spread to Persia, Egypt, Turkey and Syria. Most people believe that coffee became a substitute for alcohol because the Islamic religion forbids drinking alcohol.

Spread of Coffee in the Middle East:

The reputation of coffee grew via Arab bazaars, and soon coffee houses sprung up. These were community venues where people could drink coffee, play board games and listen to music, among other social activities. Before long in Arabia, people began referring to coffee houses as “Schools of the Wise” due to vast information exchanges. During that time, Arabs were protective of coffee cultivation and dominated the coffee market.

Cultivation of Coffee:

After time, the demand for coffee increased rapidly. New suppliers of the product began to emerge to meet the high demand. Even though the Arabs attempted to hold their monopoly on coffee production, the Dutch were successful in cultivating their own coffee towards the end of the seventeenth century. The Dutch managed to smuggle the plants from the port of Mocha in the city of Sana’a, Yemen, through spies.

The Dutch succeeded in growing the plants on Java Island after their previous endeavors in India failed. From those plants, the Dutch production of coffee prospered, and coffee cultivation soon spread to the islands of Sri-Lanka, Timor, Suriname, Bali, Celebes and Sumatra.

At this time, the cultivation of coffee began to evolve and grow. Unlike the Arabs, the Dutch did not attempt to hold a monopoly on coffee production. Instead, in 1714, the Dutch, via the mayor of Amsterdam, gave a gift of young coffee plants to various dignitaries, including King Louis XIV of France. The coffee trees were planted at the Royal Botanical Garden in Paris.

After this, several events occurred that enabled the spread of coffee cultivation in France. A young French maritime officer Gabriel de Clieu yearned to separate French dependence on Dutch- controlled East India Company’s coffee. The French coffee was expensive, so de Clieu stole a seedling from a coffee plant and sailed to the New World. For more details on how coffee reached the Americas, see Coffee Facts > How Coffee Reached the US: A Brief History

Nevertheless, the journey had several risks. The young officer encountered harsh weather, a pirate attack, and was tempted to destroy the seedling during the expedition. However, due to his resolve, the seedling arrived in Martinique safely. This one plant resulted in the 18 million coffee trees on Martinique Island today. Several experts believe that the plant was utilized in coffee propagation on the various islands of the Caribbean, Central, and South America. Coffee is currently the second largest global product after oil.