Around what year was coffee first consumed as a beverage? Was it around 1000 B.C., 1000 A.D., or the 16th century?

While the exact year is a matter of historical debate, evidence suggests that coffee began its journey as a beverage around 1000 A.D. The popular legend of Kaldi, an Ethiopian goat herder from the 9th century, tells of him discovering the energizing effects of coffee beans after his goats became lively from eating the berries of a particular tree. This story, though likely apocryphal, points to the early knowledge of the coffee plant's stimulating properties in the region.

The transition from eating the coffee cherries to brewing a beverage from their roasted beans is believed to have occurred over time. The first concrete evidence of coffee drinking as we know it today appears in the 15th century among Sufi circles in Yemen. These communities reportedly drank coffee to stay awake and alert during long hours of prayer and religious ceremonies. From Yemen, the practice of roasting and brewing coffee beans spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula, reaching cities like Mecca, Cairo, and Istanbul by the early 16th century.

Before becoming a social beverage, coffee was also used for medicinal purposes. By the 17th century, coffee houses began to appear in Europe, becoming important centers for social and intellectual exchange. Although the widespread cultivation and consumption of coffee happened later, the initial shift towards its use as a brewed beverage is best placed around the turn of the first millennium.