Kaldi
Encyclopedia
According to legend, Kaldi was the Ethiopian goatherder who discovered the coffee
plant.
"The myth of Kaldi the Ethiopian goatherd and his dancing goats, the coffee origin story most frequently encountered in Western literature, embellishes the credible tradition that the Sufi encounter with coffee occurred in Ethiopia, which lies just across the narrow passage of the Red Sea from Arabia's western coast."
and coffee roasting
companies around the world.
It also played a small, yet significant role in the Cold Case episode "Creatures of the Night." The victim, who was planning on opening up an espresso
shop, is told the story of Kaldi by a friend, who gives him a goat-shaped pendant as a "good luck" token. The pendant later turns up as evidence in his murder.
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
plant.
Myth
Kaldi, noticing that when his flock nibbled on the bright red berries of a certain bush they became more energetic (jumping goats), chewed on the fruit himself. His exhilaration prompted him to bring the berries to an Islamic holy man in a nearby monastery. But the holy man disapproved of their use and threw them into a fire, from which an enticing aroma billowed. The roasted beans were quickly raked from the embers, ground up, and dissolved in hot water, yielding the world's first cup of coffee.Analysis
The story is probably apocryphal, as it was first related by Antoine Faustus Nairon, a Maronite who became a Roman professor of Oriental languages and author of one of the first printed treatises devoted to coffee, De Saluberrima potione Cahue seu Cafe nuncupata Discurscus (Rome, 1671)."The myth of Kaldi the Ethiopian goatherd and his dancing goats, the coffee origin story most frequently encountered in Western literature, embellishes the credible tradition that the Sufi encounter with coffee occurred in Ethiopia, which lies just across the narrow passage of the Red Sea from Arabia's western coast."
Influence
In modern times, "Kaldi Coffee" or "Kaldi's Coffee" is a popular name for coffee shopsCoffeehouse
A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...
and coffee roasting
Coffee roasting
Roasting coffee transforms the chemical and physical properties of green coffee beans into roasted coffee products. The roasting process is what produces the characteristic flavor of coffee by causing the green coffee beans to expand and to change in color, taste, smell, and density...
companies around the world.
It also played a small, yet significant role in the Cold Case episode "Creatures of the Night." The victim, who was planning on opening up an espresso
Espresso
Espresso is a concentrated beverage brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee. Espresso is widely known throughout the world....
shop, is told the story of Kaldi by a friend, who gives him a goat-shaped pendant as a "good luck" token. The pendant later turns up as evidence in his murder.