History Of Coffee

There are countless legends built around coffee and as is common in this kind of story, dreams and fantasy get mixed with reality. One of these legends takes place in the Yemen, a place near "Chehodet" monastery. A herd of goats was grazing in the rough hillsides of the region, when the goatherds realised that some had strayed. They went to the mountain to search for them and there, they discovered that the animals were unusually excited and that they were chewing the red fruits and leaves of an unknown bush. The goatherds quickly told the Chehodet monks about it and they, feeling curiosity, decided to study those bushes that had been ignored till then. One day, one of the monks put some branches loaded with berries near the fire. He wanted to dry them, so that they could use them during the rains. Absent-mindedly, he forgot them and the berries began to be roasted spreading a subtle smell, which could be felt around the whole monastery and astonished the community. A short time after that, another monk took the beans out of the fire and ground them with a stone. With the powder he obtained, he prepared the usual beverage. They discovered, not only that the beverage was better like that, but also that its properties remained undamaged.