Coffee was first discovered in an East-African region currently known as Ethiopia. A legend speaks about a goat herder named Kaldi, who noticed his goats are unusually alert after eating berries from a bush. This made Kaldi curious, so he decided to try the berries. He discovered that the berries gave him new energy and strength. News of the invigorating berries travelled fast. Monks heard about the amazing berries and started drying them. They put the berries in water, ate them and drank the liquid to stay awake during prayers. From there, coffee moved on to Turkey where coffee beans were roasted on open fire for the first time in history. The first version of modern coffee was achieved by crushing roasted beans and boiling them in water.
Coffee made its way to Europe through Venetian merchants. In Europe, coffee was heavily criticised by the Catholic church. Many thought the pope should prohibit coffee and called it the devil's drink. To their amazement, the pope, who already was a coffee-drinker, blessed coffee and proclaimed it a Christian drink. In the 1700s, coffee made it to America. Espresso, which is a relatively recent coffee making method, found its beginning in 1822 when the first espresso maker was invented in Paris. The Italians improved this great machine and were the first to start manufacturing it.
Today, coffee is a huge global branch of industry. In dollars, by global turnover, coffee comes second after the oil industry. Annually, 400 billion cups of coffee is drunk across the world, making it the most popular drink in the world.