Coffee was discovered over 1000 years ago in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) by a Goat Herdsman named Kaldi. It issaid that he noticed his goats were frisky after eating berries from a particular tree.

The word coffee comes from the Arabic word "Kaveh" which means wine. Evry language uses either the word "Coffee" or "Cafe"

In the 16th Century travellers brought coffee to Europe. The first coffee shop in Europe was opened in Constantinople (Istanbul) and the first in UK was in Oxford in 1650.

When coffee reached Rome, it was condemned by the Clergy as "the Devil's drink" and Pope Clement VIII was asked to resolve the matter.

Many famous institutions started as coffee houses, for instance Llyods of London and the Stock Exchange just to name two.

In 1723, a young coffee seedling was taken from the Royal Botanical Gardens in Paris and was shipped to the Caribbean Island of Martinique and this was the start of today's coffee industry in Central and South America.

Coffee trees are grown in more than 50 countries in the area between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. More than 23 million people are employed in the growing and distribution of coffee, which is now one of the most valuable primary products in World trade, second only to oil.

1.5 billion cups of coffee are drunk every day and 10 million bags each weighing 60kg are produced annually.

Tea was surpassed by coffee as America's favourite drink in 1773 after the Boston Tea Party.

At 7:27 on July 20th 1969, four hours before that historic first step onto the Lunar surface of the Moon, the message from the Landing craft "The Eagle" to Houston Control was "If you'll excuse me a minute, I'm going to have a cup of coffee"