And luckily the goats thought of it...

No, we're not joking. And we're not mistaken either. One of the most widespread legends about coffee and its origin is indeed dedicated to these grazing animals. The story goes that one day in the Yemenite city of Moka a shepherd named Kaldi or Kaddi all of a sudden saw his meek goats turn into indomitable and high-spirited creatures after having voraciously nibbled at some tempting red berries.

It is not clear whether or not, invaded by an uncontrollable curiosity, he tasted the berries as well, but what is certain is that the miraculous red fruit ended up in the hands of the flock's owner, the abbot Yahia, who ordered the red berries be thrown into the fire because he thought witchcraft was at work.

Can you imagine the aroma given off by the fire a few moments later? The same rich, invigorating aroma that today makes coffee the most widely drunk beverage in the world. And so, astonished as he was by such an incredibly pleasing aroma, the abbot tried to salvage the beans by immersing them in water. What he obtained was the black brew that we call coffee today.

The origin of the name... and it is still a legend

In view of the many theories, in order to go back to the etymology of the word coffee we have no choice but to rely on what our common sense tells us. Perhaps it comes from the classic Arabic qawha, which means "that which stimulates, that lifts up". And the evolution of this word over time would have led it to turn into the Turkish word kahweh, whose pronunciation takes on a sound similar to today's coffee. Or maybe much more simply we are really paying homage to the Abyssinian city of Kaffa and its dark-skinned people every day as we sip our coffee.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away... And if the same were true for a cup of coffee? Maybe even two or three, because when coffee is good, it is a pleasure we allow ourselves several times during the day. There are some who drink it at breakfast, some during the mid-morning break, some after lunch, some savour it as a replacement for the well-loved English "five o'clock tea", or even after supper... Every occasion is great for coffee lovers. And yet, the ideas are not clear. There are those who drink coffee in order to stay awake, and those who avoid it because then they can't sleep a wink. There are those who sip it to get a real burst of energy, and those who don't drink it at all because they are afraid their blood pressure will go sky-high

There are those who consider it a wonder drug for headaches, and those who see it as a threat for cholesterol. And then there are those who gulp it down with the hope of appeasing their hunger during hard-andfast dieting. Lastly, for goodness' sake, there are also those who treat themselves to it when they take time out to relax. But believe us, with all this truth and fiction we no longer know what to make of it. Let's try to unpretentiously make some sense out of it, starting off by saying that each one of us will however have to take our own measures.

Our body and coffee

A drink at the end of the meal

One of the many pleasing actions exercised by a cup of good coffee on our organism that have been discovered is its effect on digestion. It results from various research studies that our beverage stimulates production of gastric juices, in this way supporting the pancreas's activity which becomes necessary in order to ensure we have good digestion

Therefore, after a sumptuous (but frugal!) meal, coffee is an indisputable cure-all, the best thing around for digesting and thereby avoiding that drowsiness that makes us want to take a siesta so much right after lunch. If work is awaiting us and we can't take a break, we might as well take remedial measures with a good cup of coffee. At least we are assured of valid assistance for the activity of our gastric juices and that lucidity we need for the entire afternoon