COFFEE HISTORY It took hundreds of years of history to arrive to your favourite cup of Il Gustino espresso. Here is a quick look back at how a love affair with coffee started. It all began with dancing goats… Legend has it that a ninth century shepherd in Ethiopia noticed that his goats started to dance whenever they ate coffee berries. Spiritual awakening By the mid 15th century, Sufi monasteries in Yemen were aware of the existence of coffee and used it as a stimulant to keep them awake during nighttime spiritual rituals. A Middle Eastern flavor By the 16th century, coffee drinking had spread across the Middle East and North Africa making Arabs, Turks and Persians among the first drinkers of this beverage in the world. In 1554, the first coffeehouse opened its doors in Istanbul. Italy gets its first taste Trade between the Middle East and Venice brought coffee to Italian shores. The first European coffeehouse opened here in the late 17th century. In those days coffee was a drink for the wealthy that came at a high price. From here coffee’s popularity spread across Europe. Going global Coffee was introduced to Central and South America – where today it represents a prime source of economic revenue - by the Dutch in the 18th century. In 1730 Jamaica received its introduction to coffee courtesy of the British. Today the most expensive coffee in the world is grown there. Caffeine identified It was 1800 when a young German doctor, Ferdinand Runge, recognized the stimulating effects of caffeine on the central nervous system, and its tendency to maintain attention and a good mood. The espresso is born It was at the beginning of the last century, that Italians started brewing espressos, so called for the speed at which the drink is brewed and drunk. Espresso means fast in Italian.