From Ethiopian Highlands to Global Brew: A Journey Through the Fascinating History of Coffee

The history of coffee is a long and fascinating one, spanning thousands of years. It begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, where legend has it that a goatherd named Kaldi discovered the energizing effects of coffee beans around 1,000 BCE. From there, coffee spread throughout Africa and eventually made its way to the Middle East.

In Arabia, coffee became an integral part of daily life and culture. The Arabs developed sophisticated methods for roasting and brewing coffee, including techniques such as Turkish ibrik (or cezve) brewing and Arabic mocha pots. They also cultivated new varieties of coffee plants that were better suited to their climate.

As trade routes expanded during the Age of Exploration, European powers began to discover the wonders of Arabica beans. In Europe, coffee houses sprang up in major cities like Vienna and London. These establishments served not only as places to enjoy a cuppa joe but also as hubs for intellectual discourse and political debate.

By the late 18th century, American colonists had brought their own unique twist on traditional European-style roasted beans back across the Atlantic with them from England's East India Company tea ships' cargo holds - this was called "French Roast". This darker roast style would become popular due largely because it could withstand longer transportation times without spoiling compared lighter roasts which were more susceptible to spoilage during transport over land or sea.

Coffee continued its journey westward after World War II when many U.S.-based companies set up factories in countries like Brazil where they could produce large quantities cheaply enough at scale; these companies helped create modern industrialized production methods involving mass-produced instant powder mixtures using freeze-dried technology pioneered by Nestle Switzerland’s Swiss-based Nestle company under founder Henri Nestlé who took inspiration from German chemist Justus von Liebig's discoveries about nitrogenous compounds found within proteins & fats contained within milk fat globules known as caseinates when he invented infant formula using whey protein isolate instead milk itself thus creating an alternative source material for food products based on his research into nutrition science published papers authored by him titled 'Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Eiweissarten und ihrer Zersetzung im Organismus'.