The origins of coffee can be traced right back to Ethiopia. According to legend, coffee was discovered sometime in the 7th century by Kaldi, an Ethiopian goat herder - well, actually by his goats.

One day, Kaldi noticed his goats eating on a strange red berry and observed that were acting extremely energetic. Tired himself, he decided to try some of the berries and, to his amazement, his fatigue vanished! He found himself running and jumping with his goats, free of worry. News of his (well, ok, his goats’) discovery traveled quickly through the villages and tribes, and thus the journey of coffee began.

Today you too can enjoy the wonderful coffee discovered by Kaldi - but without the goats.

Other Interesting Historical Coffee Facts

•  Coffee was first roasted in Turkey (over an open camp fire) shortly after its discovery
•  Arabs treated coffee as if it were a fruit and even boiled it in water to make a "beverage"
•  Around 1615, Venetian trade merchants brought coffee into Europe
•  By 1763 there were over 200 coffee bars in Venice
•  In 1732 as a protest against German physicians claiming coffee to have 'ill effects', Bach wrote the 'Coffee Cantata' to mock them
•  Coffee houses in Europe gained the reputation of being the place for true artistic and intellectual  gathering; quite different form the pubs of the day
  "Coffee is the beverage of thoughts, dialog, and dreams"
•  In the mid 1700's, coffee was declared a National Drink by the Continental Congress in protest against Britain's heavy taxation on tea
•  Espresso was first created in France in 1822
•  Italians refined the crude French process, perfected it, and were the first to manufacture and market the espresso machine
•  Italy is considered to be the 'home' of espresso and café coffee prices are regulated by the Italian government
•  There are over 200,000 coffee bars in Italy today
•  Over 5 million people are employed to cultivate and harvest coffee in Brazil alone
•  In 2007, Storehouse Coffee Company opens its doors for business