What’s in a cup of coffee?

MAGESHINI CHETTY & BIANCA BOTHMA

The sun is beating down mercilessly and there isn't a breath of wind - just like any other day in Ethiopia . The year is 500 AD and a young Yemeni goat herder is trying to escape the sun by resting under a tree on a hilltop.

He watches as the goats rush towards a bush filled with red berries and begin to devour them. The herder is struck with curiosity, as he notices the goats becoming restless and excited. Desperate for an explanation, the puzzled goat herder decides to sample the berries himself and immediately after eating a few of them he feels invigorated.
According to www.partnerscoffee.com, this seemingly obscure event is how coffee was discovered. Farming website www.arc.agric.za reports that t he first coffee in South Africa was planted in KwaZulu-Natal at a missionary station during the late 1880s.

Coffee has now become one of the most popular beverages on the globe and the average coffee shop or café has more than ten different types of coffee to choose from.

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