650 A.D. - According to legend the coffee plant was discovered by and Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi. His goats were romping about after eating red berries from a mysterious plant. A Moslem imam, or monk saw Kaldi and his goats and began experimenting with the berries: drying, roasting, and boiling them. The berries found their way into Islamic monasteries where Qahwah is used as a medicinal and invigorating beverage, mainly to enhance prayer sessions. Interestingly, Qahwah is also an Arabic word for wine.

1000 - 1500 - The use of coffee spreads throughout the Middle East and Persia with the expansion of Islam. Secular use becomes widespread in coffee houses, known as Kahveh Kanes in Turkish. Men frequented these places to listen to music, play games, and discuss matters. Such intellectual activity is viewed as subversive and sometimes causes the coffee houses to be declared illegal.

1500s - Baba Budan, Moslem pilgrim smuggles seeds from a secluded district in Yemen to Chikamalagur, India. For centuries the monks had kept all viable seeds captive in this tiny province called Mocha.

1615 - 1700 - Coffee Houses take hold in Europe, first in Vienna, then in most major cities. A cultural phenomenon, coffee house become meeting places for of open minded, free thinkers, continuing as hotbeds of social and political discussion.

1699 - Dutch take seedlings from India to the island of Java. They begin commercial cultivation to feed the growing European demand

1706 - single Java seedling is brought back to Amsterdam. The seedling thrives, bears fruit, and reproduces itself since coffea Arabica is self-pollinating.

1708 - The French get seeds from Mocha to grow on La Reunion, also known as the Isle of Bourbon, in the Indian Ocean off Madagascar. This variety produces slightly smaller seeds, and becomes known as var. Bourbon.

1714 - The Burgomaster of Amsterdam presents Louis XIV with a five-foot coffee tree. The Tree is sheltered in Paris in the first green house in France. The Tree becomes the progenitor of coffee spread throughout the French colonies and the world.

1720 - French naval officer, Captain Gabriel Mathiew de Clieu, transplants The Tree seedlings to Martinique. He braves pirates, hurricanes, lack of water, and crazed shipmates to deliver the precious seedlings to the Caribbean island. De Clieu has his first recorded harvest in 1727, and within 50 years there are 50 million trees on Martinique. Offspring from this island spread throughout the Caribbean, Central and South America.

1727 - A young Brazilian officer helps settle a border dispute between Dutch Guiana and French Guiana. Both Guianas have fledgling coffee industries and prohibit any seeds from leaving. The officer charms the French Governor's wife into hiding seeds and seedlings into a bouquet. This begins the huge Brazilian coffee industry. Seedlings from the Isle of Bourbon are later imported as well.

1813 - The first coffee is introduced to Hawaii. A Spaniard in service to King Kamehameha I plants seedlings on Oahu. Unfortunately, these trees don't survive.

1825 - Thirty live coffee plants are brought to Hawaii from Rio de Janeiro aboard the HMS Blonde. The governor of Oahu is returning the bodies of King Kamehameha II and Queen Kamamalu who died of measles while visiting England. These trees are most likely var. Bourbon, and become known as Hawaiian coffee.

1828 - Missionary Samuel Ruggles introduces coffee to Kona, a prime 3000 acre growing region on the west coast of the island of Hawaii.

1892 - Guatemalan coffee is introduced to Kona. Probably descended from The Tree through De Clieu, this strain is a much steadier producer than the earlier introduced Hawaiian coffee.

Today - Kona typica is recognized worldwide for its quality and distinctive flavor.