by Christine Maguire

Created on: September 02, 2008   Last Updated: September 21, 2008

Coffee dates back as far as the 11th century. It was first discovered in Ethiopia. According to legend, a goat herder noticed his goats becoming more lively after eating certain berries, he tried them himself and found them to have the same effect on him.
At the time, monks also discovered the berries. They dried them out so that they could travel with them. They added them to water and drank the liquid along with eating the berries. It helped them to remain focused during long periods of prayer and meditation.

The name for coffee first came from the Arab word qahwa, which came from the phrase qahhwat al-bun, which translates as wine of the bean. As Islam traditionally prohibited the consumption of alcohol, coffee was an alternative drink for Arab people. When coffee spread to Turkey they named it kahve, and the Italians then called it caffe, which led to the English version, coffee.
The coffee plant originated in Kaffa Kingdom in Ethiopia, which offers another explain for it's name.

After its discovery in Ethiopia, coffee was then transported to the Arabian area, Arabia Felix, which is now known as Yemen. It was brought from Ethiopia by traders, who took coffee beans home and began to cultivate it.

Coffee was brought to Istanbul in Turkey by Syrian traders. It was in Turkey where the beans were roasted over a fire for the first time, then crushed and added to water.
The first coffee shop opened in 1475, it was called Kiva Han.' Coffee became known as the milk of chess players and thinkers'. It became a part of Turkish social life, with men drinking it whilst playing chess and smoking, and women drinking it with cake and conversation. A Turkish law was even passed that allowed a woman to divorce her husband if he did not provide her with her daily amount of coffee.

In 1511, coffee was forbidden by conservative, orthodox imams at a theological court in Mecca, due to its stimulating effects. The ban was lifted in 1524 by the Ottoman Turkish Sultan, due to the popularity of the beverage.

Coffeehouses opened in Mecca, and then spread through the Arab world. People played chess there, gossiped, listened to music and even danced. Coffeehouses were places where anyone could go and conduct their business and socialise, and were different to anything that had existed before.
When political activity began to take place in the coffeehouses, they were banned, along with coffee. However, coffee and coffeehouses kept resurfacing, so eventually both were taxed, which solved

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