Legend has it that around the 9th century coffee beans were discovered by a goatherd named Kaldi, in the south-western region of Ethiopia. From here, the coffee plant was introduced into the Arab World through Egypt and Yemen.
Forward to the early 17th century, Venetian merchants introduced a bitter black drink from the Muslim world to Christian ruled Europe. It was met with strong resistance from the Catholic Church which declared the beverage “Satan’s Drink.”
The Pope at the time, Pope Clement VIII, opted for taste over haste before deciding. Fortunately, he liked what he tried, declaring, “This drink of Satan is so delicious that it would be a shame to leave it to the unbelievers. Let us confound Satan by blessing it,”
The rest is history.
