Kaldi was a legendary goatherd who is credited for discovering the coffee plant around 850 CE, according to popular legend, after which such crop entered the Islamic world and then the rest of the world. [1]
Kaldi is described to be an Ethiopian or Arab goatherd. [2] [3] [4] In the 9th century a goat herder named Kaldi noticed that when his goats were nibbling on the bright red berries of a certain bush, they became very energetic, Kaldi then chewed on the fruit himself. His exhilaration prompted him to bring the berries to the nearest place of worship in the village. After a brief explanation, the head monk of an Islamic monastery deemed the berries to be the "Devil’s work", and abruptly threw the berries into a nearby fire. Soon thereafter, a sensual and powerful aroma filled the room that could not be overlooked. The head monk, who had thrown them in the fire in the first place, ordered the embers be pulled from the fire and for hot water to be poured over them to preserve the smell. Upon drinking the mixture, they experienced the peaceful, warming, and calming sensation it gave them. The after-effects were just as powerful, as they were able to stay alert and discuss important matters for longer periods of time. The monk then shared his discovery with the other monks at the monastery, and knowledge of the energizing berries began to spread. [5] [6]
The herder is unnamed in the earliest account and the name Kaldi appears to be a later invention the twentieth century, propagated by William H. Ukers in the twentieth century [7]
The story is probably apocryphal, as it was first related by Antoine Faustus Nairon, a Maronite 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), which describes a camel or goat herder in the Kingdom of Ayaman, Arabia Felix. [8] [9] [10]
According to The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug: 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. [11]
In modern times, "Kaldi Coffee," "Kaldi's Coffee," "Dancing Goat," and "Wandering Goat" are popular names for coffee shops and coffee roasting companies around the world. [12] The largest coffee chain in Ethiopia is called Kaldi's Coffee.
Kaldi, an Arab Ethiopian goatherd, is said to have found his goats dancing in the forest in south-west Ethiopia sometime in the ninth century.
In Ukers' book, a young Arabian goatherd named Kaldi, afflicted with melancholy, followed the example of his frolicking goats and ate the coffee berries from the trees.
Another tale and one that is commonly accepted is the story of a ninth-century Arab goatherd named Kaldi.
One of many legends about the discovery of coffee is that of Kaldi, an Arab goatherd who was puzzled by the strange antics of his flock
In Ukers' book, a young Arabian goatherd named Kaldi, afflicted with melancholy, followed the example of his frolicking goats and ate the coffee berries from the trees.
Kaldi , an Arabian goatherd . Kaldi's goats would occasionally wander away to the mountains
One of many legends about the discovery of coffee is that of Kaldi, an Arab goatherd who was puzzled by the strange antics of his flock.
Of current relevance today is that there is no mention of any goatherd named 'Kaldi' in any historical source on coffee. This spurious name was propagated by Ukers in his 1922 book on coffee, published by the Tea and Coffee Trading Journal Company in New York.
A certain person who took care of camels, or as others say, of goats, according to the common tradition of the Orientals, complained to the monks of a certain monastery in the Kingdom of Ayaman, that is Arabia Felix.
Ukers, William Harrison (1922). All About Coffee. New York: Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Company. pp. 14–15.