Vietnam: Coffee plantations, Dak Song, near Buon Ma Thuot, Central Highlands

Four centuries ago coffee was all but unknown beyond the Horn of Africa and Southern Arabia, the area from which a small, berry-bearing tree, known to science as coffee arabica, first sprang. The unassuming plant which plays so important a part in our lives today, is thought to be indigenous to the Kaffa region of highland Ethiopia -- from which the name 'coffee' may originate; others argue that it derives from its Arabic name qahwa. Certainly the earliest known legend concerning coffee -- still recounted today in the suqs, or markets, of Southern Arabia -- tells how an Arab goatherd called Kaldi, whilst out tending his flock, noted their queer behaviour on eating certain small berries. Kaldi tried them himself, liked the mild sense of euphoria they induced, and told his companions.

Within a short time -- probably in the early 15th century -- the wild coffee plant had been introduced to the highlands of Yemen, and was being cultivated and selectively bred in a process which would eventually create the many diverse types of bean now available. Blue Mountain from Jamaica, Kenyan from East Africa, Java from Indonesia, Brasilica from Brazil -- all these famous blends derive originally from Kaldi's stunted shrubs, but the godfather of them all is Mocha.

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

David Henley

Credit:

Pictures From Asia