It may just be something you get out of the cappuccino machine in the office to kick-start your day, but there is a lot more to the origins and legends of coffee than you probably imagine. For a simple drink, the number of different beliefs relating to the benefits and origins of coffee are astonishing.
Many historians have now reached agreement that the coffee plant initially came from Ethiopia and was first encountered some two and a half thousand years ago. When the invigorating effects of the plant were realized, it began to be exported by voyagers to Arabia, where it was first given its modern name.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, times of world trade and discovery, the popularity of coffee spread rapidly. By the end of this period coffee could be found in across Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East. The drink was very different to that which we find in modern cappuccino makers, being drunk strong and black, but it was widely accepted by every class of society.
The health benefits of coffee cited throughout this period, varied greatly. At various times it was believed to cure almost every known ill, often without much foundation...