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According to myth coffee was discovered in the 9th century in Abyssinia (Ethiopia). A young goat herder noticed his
goats grazing on some berries that seemed to be causing some amazing side effects.The goats seemed to be jumping around with some new found energy. The goat herder took some berries back to the village elders. They decided to boil
them with water and soon realised the stimulating effects of the brew. Ever since this day coffee plants have been cultivated by man purely for their precious crop.
The Ethiopians traded with the Arabs thus spreading the coffee eastwards. The Arabs guarded their coffee plants
jealously and although they traded widely across the Islamic world all the export beans were boiled to prevent any
chance of transplantation. The Dutch managed to transplant some to Java (Indonesia) towards the end of the 1600's,
and this was the catalyst for the worldwide growth of coffee cultivation. During the late 17th Century coffee spread 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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