Coffee tree with ripe cherries

Figure 21.1 Coffee tree with ripe cherries.

Coffee was first used as a food, rather than as a beverage. African tribes crushed ripe cherries from wild coffee trees with stone mortars, added animal fat, mixed this exotic blend and fashioned it into round balls, which they ate at their war parties. The food filled two needs (1) the animal fat and the protein of raw coffee beans (the protein is lost when coffee is prepared as a beverage) provided concentrated nourishment and (2) the caffeine of the coffee served as a stimulant to spur the warriors to greater heights of savagery. 

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See also in sourсe #XX -- [ ]

See also in sourсe #XX -- [ ]

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