Coffee's History
The first mentions of coffee have to be attributed
to the less than accurate accounts of the important doctor Avicenna in th XI'th century. The first scientific description was given by Prospero
Albino in 1582. In the 1671 work of the monk Antonio Fausto, "De
Saluberrima potione", the Nairon wrote that at around 800 B.C. some
Ethiopian sheepherders noticed that when their sheep and goats ate a
specific plant they would start to behave in a peculiar way. When the
monks came to hear of these strange stories from the sheepherders they
started experimenting with the plant. They created an infusion by mixing
the plant with hot water and called it "kahwa" (an Arab word meaning
"wine"; and a Turkish one "kahwa" meaning "exciting").
According to religious legends "kahwa" the Archangel Gabriel
gave this drink made by Allah, to the prophet Mohammed.
Recently some researches have discovered that the plant (Arabic coffea) comes from Yemen and that only in the XV century the coffee as a drink become famous in Arabia. There are many theories about the origins of the plant as mentioned above it is believed that it originated in the east while others believe it started in the Ethiopian country Kaffa (from whose name the word "coffee" would be derive). General beliefs are that the Arabs started the trades, then followed the Ethiopians and the Turks.
The first European coffee shop was opened in San Marco square, in Venice in 1638. While coffee has been around for a while, only in the XIX century did the chemists Runge, Caventou and Robiquet discovered the common elements of the coffee plants.