Raw Coffee Bean: Do Goats Really Dance?

To find out more about the raw coffee bean it is first of all necessary to know more about its origins. This quest will of course lead you to the Ethiopian highlands where it is believed the history of the raw coffee bean first began as far back as in the ninth century. There is a legend associated with how the raw coffee bean came to the notice of humans because it was a shepherd with the name of Kaldi who noticed how his goats began dancing about after eating a certain plant that had bright and red colored berries.

Wider Cultivation

The cultivation of the raw coffee bean soon began in other parts of Africa including in Yemen and Egypt as well as in Arabia though in these countries the raw coffee bean had to be processed through roasting before being brewed and served as a beverage. Another six centuries passed after Kaldi noticed how his goats danced before the raw coffee bean spread from Africa and was introduced to other Middle Eastern countries and to Turkey as well as Persia and also to the rest of the Northern regions of the Dark Continent.

Around the same time a German doctor on his travels in the Near East found a drink that was black as ink, but which also seemed to help treat a variety of illnesses of which the most notable was stomach disorder. Through commercial activities that involved North Africa and Venice the raw coffee bean soon came to the attention of the Venetians and from there in a short span of time the raw coffee bean was soon introduced to the rest of Europe.

In the year 1600 and despite doubts that the raw coffee bean had Muslim origins, it was however granted by Pope Clement VIII that coffee was a respected drink and so the popularity of the raw coffee bean grew from that time onward. At first, Americans that were introduced to the raw coffee bean by the Europeans were not taken up by this beverage since tea was the more popular beverage of the time. However, following the infamous Boston Tea Party, coffee soon became the number one beverage in America and this tradition has lasted for centuries after that.

Caffeine from regular coffee can prove to be addictive as well as less than totally healthy and this is why modern technology has been trying to find a solution to the problem. The introduction of the decaf coffee bean has been welcomed by coffee drinkers throughout the world because it allows them to drink their favorite beverage without needing to look over the shoulder and worry that the high caffeine content would harm their health. In fact, a certain kind of coffee tree produces coffee beans that do not contain any caffeine though its benefits have not been realized on a commercial scale as yet.