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Ethiopia is undeniably one of the most important nations in coffee history as this ancient and mysterious nation is considered to be the birthplace of the coffee plant. It is generally believed that coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia as early as the ninth century. Today, over 4.0 million farmers in Ethiopia are involved in the cultivation and picking of coffee, and that coffee remains a central part of Ethiopian culture. It should, thus, come to no surprise that the most popular legend of coffee hails from the ancient and mysterious nation of Abyssinia (currently day Ethiopia). Table of Contents The Ethiopian Coffee LegendEthiopian Coffee HistoryCoffee’s Journey Around the WorldCoffee History in the Horn of Africa & The Middle EastCoffee History in EuropeCoffee History in North AmericaCoffee History in Central and South AmericaThe Importance of CoffeeReferences The Ethiopian Coffee Legend The story goes that one eventful day, Kaldi, a goat herder from the highlands of Kaffa, noticed that his goats were behaving very strangely and had begun to jump around in an excited manner, bleating loudly and dancing on their hind legs. He found that the source of their excitement was a small cluster of shrubs with bright red berries. […]