Coffee Brewing Methods and Modes

Coffee holds a special place in the hearts of many, so much so that the beverage is widely perceived as the ultimate “breakfast of champions”. Largely recognized as the world’s second most consumed drink next to water, the beverage has a number of “origin stories” under its belt – the story of its discovery by a 9th-century Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi being one of the most popular.

As the “Kaldi-Coffee Legend” goes, it is said that the goat herder, one day, noticed how energized his flock got after eating the ripe red berries of a certain bush.

Noticing a quick burst of energy after sampling the berry himself, it is said that Kaldi promptly reported this discovery to the abbot of a local monastery, who, after hearing about its energizing effects, made a type of beverage using the berry as a key ingredient.

Noticing that the drink had energizing properties that kept those who consumed it alert, the abbot realized how beneficial the drink was and shared it to the other members of the monastery.

It is said that the drink was such a hit that word of its discovery went beyond the monastery’s walls – eventually spreading eastward to the Arabian Peninsula, where, as historians note, coffee as we know it today was already being brewed by around 1000 AD.

Though the “Kaldi-Coffee Legend” is quite popular, there are historians who are not that convinced of its authenticity, arguing that the earliest written variant of the legend dates back to 1671; alluding that embellishments in its telling and retelling are likely.

But as unconvinced as these historians are about this “origin story”, this has not affected the development of various coffee brewing methods and modes like the following.