The name "coffee" came from the Arabic word "qahwah", and the drink replaced wine, a forbidden alcoholic drink. There are many legends about how coffee was discovered, most of them depicting a man who sees animals eating a the coffee bean and, as a way of being one with the animals, eating it himself. This story is the perfect example of one of these myths:
http://www.beanthere.co.za/discover/history/kaldis-coffee-discovery
When berries first arrived in Ethiopia, some people brewed the plant to consume it as a drink. People in other areas of Africa ate the berries raw. In Yemen, people used the coffee in a social manner to keep themselves awake during late night ritual chants, rather than for the taste. Yemen was the main trading and production site for coffee for two and a half centuries. A sheikh, an Arabian leader of the Sufi, which is an Arabian religion, was the first to established a technique for roasting, grinding and brewing the coffee beans. Sufi was the main reason coffee drinking spread to Cairo, Damascus, and Mecca. Coffee began to have a role in many religious aspects. For example, in Cairo, coffee drinking was concentrated near the mosque and people drank coffee in Mecca’s Sacred Mosque. Coffee was drunk during the month long fast of Ramadan at night. Many trace the origins of coffee back to Mohammed because he replaced wine, which Islam forbade, with coffee. He was the reason coffee spread to the Islamic world. Sugar and milk had not yet been mixed in with the brew of coffee yet. Cardamon, which is a spice, opium, and hashish (stimulants) were added into the drink. At this time boiling water was the only safe way to drink water. Boiled water was needed to brew coffee and this attracted people’s eyes. The Café was established in the Middle East and other cultures that had coffee. Coffeehouses were a marketing device, which spread the consumption of this drink.
When berries first arrived in Ethiopia, some people brewed the plant to consume it as a drink. People in other areas of Africa ate the berries raw. In Yemen, people used the coffee in a social manner to keep themselves awake during late night ritual chants, rather than for the taste. Yemen was the main trading and production site for coffee for two and a half centuries. A sheikh, an Arabian leader of the Sufi, which is an Arabian religion, was the first to established a technique for roasting, grinding and brewing the coffee beans. Sufi was the main reason coffee drinking spread to Cairo, Damascus, and Mecca. Coffee began to have a role in many religious aspects. For example, in Cairo, coffee drinking was concentrated near the mosque and people drank coffee in Mecca’s Sacred Mosque. Coffee was drunk during the month long fast of Ramadan at night. Many trace the origins of coffee back to Mohammed because he replaced wine, which Islam forbade, with coffee. He was the reason coffee spread to the Islamic world. Sugar and milk had not yet been mixed in with the brew of coffee yet. Cardamon, which is a spice, opium, and hashish (stimulants) were added into the drink. At this time boiling water was the only safe way to drink water. Boiled water was needed to brew coffee and this attracted people’s eyes. The Café was established in the Middle East and other cultures that had coffee. Coffeehouses were a marketing device, which spread the consumption of this drink.