Myth has it that
coffee was first discovered in or around the 9th century in Abyssinia
(Ethiopia) by a young goatherd. He noticed that his goats liked to graze upon
berries which seemed to have interesting side effects! The goats jumped around
seemingly full of energy and realising that the berries must have some magical
property the young goatherd took some back to the village elders. They boiled
them with water and soon realised the stimulating potential of the brew. From
this point on coffee plants were cultivated by man purely for their precious
crop.
The Ethiopians
traded with the Arabs and coffee spread eastwards. The Arabs jealously guarded
the coffee plant and although they traded widely across the Islamic world all
beans for export were boiled to prevent any chance of transplantation. However
the Dutch managed to transplant some to Java (Indonesia) in late 1600's, and
this was the catalyst for the worldwide growth of coffee cultivation. In the
late 17th Century coffee came to the masses of Europe and the first coffee
houses opened in Italy, Austria and England. Lloyds of London and the London
Stock Exchange are just two of the key institutions whose roots can be traced
back to a 17th Century coffee house.
By the 18th Century
the French had introduced coffee cultivation to Martinique, and by the end of
the century there were between 18 and 19 million coffee bushes firmly
establishing Central America and South America as important coffee producers.
Today coffee is grown
on five continents, is consumed worldwide, and is one of the most important
commodities traded on the world markets.
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