by Felicia Jeffries

Created on: August 28, 2008   Last Updated: September 21, 2008

Coffee fits into almost every aspect to a person's life, no matter what the culture. We wake up to it. We go through the day with it. We drink it as a feel good beverage. Coffee, at times can even be a rewarding treat. Yet with the popularity of coffee, some may wonder about its origins and how it was discovered. This precise article will discuss just that.

How tasty a treat to drink, coffee. It has the ability to fit into a social, business, or any other setting. Depending on what region of the world a person lives, the history of coffee varies.

There is a wonderful book called "The World Of Caffeine, The Science and Culture of the World's most popular Drug." I have practically dived into this book, not only because it tells the history of coffee but it tells of the effects of coffee and caffeine. For example, we know that coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. But did you know that coffe was possibly discovered in Paleolithic times. I know, you may ask, what is paleo...whatever times. In my findings, it is the times during the early stone ages.

These stone aged men most likely knew nothing of infusing the seeds with hot water, so they chewed the seeds. I can imagine, those seeds must have been very bitter. That does not sound pleasent at all. Coffee without sugar is very bitter. Chewing on a coffee bean cannot be too amusing.

After the introduction of coffee to the Continent in the seventeenth century, caffeine quickly acheived a very pervasive cultural presence in Europe maintained to this day. In 1732 Bach composed the "Coffee Cantata," lyrics by Leipzig poet Picander, who celebrated the delights of coffee (which was then forbidden to women of child- bearing age because of fear it produced stertility) in a young bride.

Here is how some of the poem goes, "Ah! How sweet coffee tastes! Lovelier than a thousand kisses, sweeter far than muscatel wine! I tell you, I do agree with those sentiments.

In England, health claims and warnings, often fanciful, were touted almost as soon as the first cup of coffee was served. For example, William Harvey (1578- 1657), a famous physician used coffee for its medical benefits. There was even an English advertisement that listed various benefits, from helping digestion to helping constipation and headaches. Myself, I am a witness that coffee acts as a diuretic.

You know there must be two sides to a story. For in Arabia, there was a medical text that questioned what the English had to say, stating that coffee "causeth

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