NATIONAL COFFEE DAY: DID BUKOWSKI DRINK COFFEE??

Shit, doesn't every writer?? I know I need it every day, multiple times a day. In any case, one of the legends has coffee dating as far back as the 9th century, first discovered in Ethiopia by a goat herder named Kaldi. He noticed the stimulating effects that the coffee berries had on his goats and began to experiment with them.

A century later, coffee began being roasted and traded by Arabs. From there, the beans entered Indian and European markets and the first coffee shop opened in Constantinople in 1475. From there, coffee's popularity grew at an exponential rate.

Today, over 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed each year. Staggering fact?? It's a world commodity second only to oil.

To celebrate this historical and important beverage, check out a piece I wrote for a long dead magazine.

And finally, check out this Bukowski-inspired awesome coffee mug.