Who invented coffee?

Welcome to History's Not Boring by Kidopoly.com with your hosts Mira and Finn! Have you ever wondered why grown-ups love their morning coffee so much? It all started with dancing goats! Legend says that around the year 850 AD, an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi noticed his goats acting super strange. They were dancing wildly after eating bright red berries from a mystery bush! Kaldi decided to try the berries himself, and suddenly, he had so much energy he couldn't sleep for days! When local monks heard about these magical berries, they brewed them into a hot drink to help them stay awake during long hours of prayer. From Ethiopia, this amazing energy drink spread to Arabia and then across the entire world! In Istanbul, the very first coffeehouses became exciting places where people gathered to talk, argue, and even plan revolutions! Later, in London coffeehouses, people sipping coffee came up with giant ideas that gave birth to the modern stock market! Join Mira and Finn as they uncover the wildly fun history of the drink that powers the modern world. Get ready for a high-energy adventure!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Histories Not Boring by Kidopoly.com. I'm Mira. And I'm Finn. Before we dive into today's awesome adventure, we got a super fun listener request from Lucas, age 7, in Singapore. Plus a big hello to Marcello and Talia in Riverside, California. Wow, we have friends listening all over the world. Hi guys! Okay Finn, get ready for a mind-blowing number. Right now, in just a single second, people around the world just drank 26,000 cups of coffee. Wait, in one second? That's impossible! It's true! Globally, humans drink 2.25 billion cups of coffee every single day.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

2 billion? That's enough to fill a bazillion swimming pools. But who figured out we could drink it?

SPEAKER_01 0:57

That is exactly what we are finding out today. We are travelling back in time to track down the invention of the magical, energizing bean that powers the modern world. And spoiler alert, it all starts with a herd of wild dancing animals.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Dancing animals? You have to tell me what kind.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

We will get there! But first, let's talk about what coffee actually is. Most people think it's a brown bean, but it actually starts as a bright red fruit called a coffee cherry.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

A cherry? Like the kind you put on an ice cream sundae?

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Sort of, but it grows on bushes in tropical areas. And inside that red cherry is a pair of pale green seeds. Those seeds are the coffee beans.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

So they aren't even brown until you cook them. Who was the first person to look at a red cherry and say, I'm going to take the seed out, roast it, and drink it?

SPEAKER_01 1:58

For that, we have to travel back to the year 850 AD, to the ancient misty highlands of Ethiopia in Africa.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Ooh, I love a good time travel trip.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

What was it like there? Imagine steep green mountains stretching as far as you can see, with thick forests and cool, crisp air. In these mountains lived a young goat herder named Caldi. A goat herder?

SPEAKER_00 2:26

So his job was just to watch goats eat grass all day.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Exactly. But one evening, Caldi was gathering his flock to go home, and he noticed some of his goats were missing. He searched and searched through the dense bushes until he found them. Were they okay? Did a lion get them? They were more than okay. Caldi found his goats prancing, jumping, and dancing wildly on their hind legs in the moonlight.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

No way!

SPEAKER_01 2:55

Dancing goats? Why were they dancing? Caldi wondered the exact same thing. He noticed the dancing goats were nibbling on the bright red berries of a mysterious green bush. Did Caldi try the berries himself? He did. He popped a few red berries into his mouth. At first, they were just sweet and fruity, but then BAM! He felt a massive rush of energy.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

He started dancing with the goat, didn't he?

SPEAKER_01 3:26

He probably did. Legend says Caldi was so energized he couldn't sleep for days. He knew these magical berries were special, so he gathered a pocketful and rushed to the nearest monastery to show the monks. Did the monks like them? Not at all. The head monk took one look at the weird red berries, called them the devil's work, and threw them straight into a crackling fire. Oh no, the magic berries are burning up. But wait, as the green seeds inside the cherries started to roast in the flames, the heat transformed them into dark brown beans, and the most incredible, delicious, mouth-watering smell filled the whole room.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Ooh, I bet it smelled like a modern coffee shop.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Exactly! The monks were so mesmerised by the smell that they used tongs to pull the glowing beans out of the ashes. They crushed them up, poured hot water over them to put out the embers, and took a sip.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

And how was the very first cup of coffee?

SPEAKER_01 4:29

It tasted bitter, but it gave them the exact same energy Chaldi had. The monks realised this dark drink could help them stay awake during their long, late-night prayers.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

So the monks invented the first coffee recipe. What happened next? Did they keep it a secret?

SPEAKER_01 4:46

They couldn't! The secret of the energizing drink spread across the Red Sea to Arabia, specifically to the country of Yemen. By the 1500s, they were growing coffee trees everywhere in the mountains.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

Did they have coffee shops back then? Like the ones on our street?

SPEAKER_01 5:04

They did. In fact, the world's very first coffee shop opened in the year 1475 in the city of Constantinople, which is now Istanbul. It was called Kiva Hahn.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

1475? That's over 500 years ago. What did Kiva Han look like?

SPEAKER_01 5:23

Picture a crowded, noisy room filled with the smell of roasting beans. People didn't just go there to drink. They played board games like backdammon and chess, listened to music and stories, and argued about politics. They called these early coffee houses schools of wisdom because of all the smart conversations.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

That sounds so fun. Did they drink it with milk and sugar?

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Not back then. Traditional Turkish coffee was boiled at the grounds right in the water in a small copper pot called a Cesve. It was thick, dark, and very strong. Wow! When did it get to the rest of the world? Coffee finally reached Europe in the 1600s, and when it hit London, it completely changed history. Wait, how can a drink change history? Because the London coffee houses became places where businessmen met to share ideas. One coffee shop, called Jonathan's Coffee House, had so many people buying and selling shares of companies that it actually became the London Stock Exchange.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

You're telling me the massive London Stock Exchange started in a coffee shop.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

Yep, and another one, run by a man named Edward Lloyd in 1686, was where ship captains hung out. People started selling insurance for ships right at the tables, and it became Lloyd's of London, which is still one of the biggest insurance markets in the world today. That is insane! Coffee literally built huge businesses. Exactly! Back in London, coffee houses were nicknamed Penny Universities, because a cup of coffee cost one penny, and for that single coin, you could sit all day and listen to the smartest people in the city talk.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

A penny for a whole day of learning? That's the best deal ever!

SPEAKER_01 7:13

It was! But not everyone liked them. King Charles II actually tried to ban coffee houses in 1675 because he thought people were using them to plot against him. But the public was so angry he had to cancel the ban just 11 days later.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

You can't take away the people's coffee.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Now for some weird facts. Did you know that when coffee first arrived in Italy around the year 1600, some people were terrified of it. They wanted Pope Clement VIII to ban it. Did he ban it? Nope. He took one sip, loved it so much, and said it was so delicious it should be baptized.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

The Pope baptised coffee. That's hilarious.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

And here's another wild stat. Even though coffee grows in hot tropical places like Brazil and Vietnam, the country that drinks the most coffee per person today is. Finland. Finland? But it's freezing there. Maybe that's why they need so much hot coffee. The average person in Finland drinks about four cups every single day, going through 12 kilograms of coffee a year.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

12 kilograms? That's as heavy as a whole bicycle made of coffee beans.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

And countries like Norway, Iceland and Denmark are right behind them. During the long, dark, freezing winters, they need something warm and caffeinated to keep them going. Alright, Finn, quiz time! Are you ready to test your coffee knowledge?

SPEAKER_00 8:46

I drank my invisible cup of coffee. So my brain is totally energized. Let's do this! First question.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

What year did the legend of Khaldi the goat herder take place? Next one. What animals discovered coffee by dancing after eating the berries? Question three. Think back to the bustling city of Istanbul. What was the name of the first coffee shop opened there in 1475? Here's number four. Think about London in the 1600s. What nickname did London coffee houses get because you could learn so much for just one coin? Last question. Think of the mind-blowing number from the start of the show. How many cups of coffee do people worldwide drink every single day? Great job! Let's see how you did. The first answer is it happened around the year 850 AD. For question two, it was goats, Chaldees dancing goats. Number three, the answer is the first coffee shop was Kiva Han. Question four, they were called Penny Universities. And the final answer is people drink 2.25 billion cups of coffee every single day.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

I got them all! From dancing goats to huge stock markets. Coffee really is a magical bean.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

It really is! The next time you see someone drinking a cup of coffee, you'll know they're chipping on over a thousand years of history.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

I'm definitely going to tell my parents that their morning coffee started with a goat.

SPEAKER_01 10:43

If you love learning about weird history like dancing goats, please leave us a five-star review. Just scroll down on your podcast app and tap the stars.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Yeah, it really helps other kids find the show.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Oh, and don't forget to check out our site kidopoly.com. We've got tons of fun learning games and activities there.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

And if you want a shout out on the show, like Lucas, Marcello, and Talia, or just want to say hi, email us at hello at kidopoly.com.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

Thanks for listening, time travellers. See you next time on History's Not Boring. Bye, everyone.