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When Did Humans Start Drinking Coffee?

Coffee is one of the beverages we serve here at Island Smoothie. It doesn’t matter if it’s hot or cold outside, we have customers buying it.

We all know that feeling of needing a little pick-me-up. Coffee is perfect or that. After all, it’s basically just water and bean. It doesn’t have any additives or weird foreign ingredients. It’s just coffee.

That got me thinking… maybe I should write a blog about the origins of coffee and how we came to depend on it as our go-to energy booster.

The earliest known use of coffee dates back to the 15th century. In the area of the world we call the middle east, in a spot of land called Yemen is where they first started making this drink.

Beans from Ethiopia were brought to Yemen where they created the coffee much like we do today. Essentially this just comes down to crushing the beans into fine powder and running hot water through them.

It wasn’t long before coffee gained popularity in surrounding areas. Arabia was the next hotspot for our precious beverage. They liked the drink so much that they started cultivating the beans themselves. This area of the world is still known for producing premium coffee beans.

India was next on the coffee train. Since Europe was already doing a ton of trade with India, it wasn’t long before Europeans started imbibing it. Pope Clement VIII declared the drink was acceptable for Christians, which helped fuel its popularity.

In the Americas, the drink became super popular too. It replaced tea as the favored hot caffeinated beverage early on. During the Civil War, soldiers were issued coffee because it helped stave off hunger and gave soldiers a little boost.

Central and South America became large producers of coffee. The natural climate there lent itself to producing this crop. It has its own unique flavor which is sought by coffee drinkers around the world.