lizzyoc

 

 

You might know that the undomesticated coffee bush originates from the plainlands of Ethiopia. There are many stories about the first cup of coffee, but as one of the legends has it, a sheperd named Kaldi found to his astonishment that his goats seemed to have been quite energized after eating bright red berries from a certain bush.. 

Undoubtably amazed by his discovery, he brought the berries to a monk in a nearby monastry, who disapproved and consequently threw them into the fire. An enticing scent soon billowed from the flames and the other monks gathered around the fire, intrigued by the mysteriously appealling smell. The beans were taken out from the ashes and dissolved in hot water and thus the first cup of coffee was made. And well, we all know what happened next.  

 

Making this nature's revitalizer into a commercial product has proven to be an business made heaven in for the big companies, just like with the tobacco plant and sugar cane (not to mention coca leaves). It's hard to come up with a more ingenius business plan than one that will actually effect the central nervous system and make your consumers HOOKED. 

It continues to amaze me that in the place of its origin, coffee is still perceived as something special, something worth making a ceremony of drinking. In Sweden, we drink in average, 8.2 kilos of coffee in a year. Meanwhile the ethiopians land on 1.3 kilos.

 

                                                   A Swedish vs Ethiopian cup of coffee