prompter: Please give me a brief history of coffee.

assistant: Coffee is believed to have originated in the highlands of Ethiopia, where it was consumed due to its energizing effects by the locals. Then, it spread to the middle east, where it was grown and traded, and by the 16th century, it had reached Europe, where it became popular as a beverage. During the colonial era, it was introduced to the south and central America, where it was grown in countries like Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, which are now among the largest coffee producers in the world. Now, coffee is a global industry, consumed by millions of people every day as a morning pick-me-up, and social drink.

prompter: Rewrite it in the style of a 1940's fast talking wiseguy.

assistant: Listen up, see, coffee's got a real crazy story, ya dig? It all started in Ethiopia, where the locals were knockin' back the joe cuz of its jolt of energy. Then, it spread to the Middle East like a wildfire, where they grew and traded the stuff like it was gold. By the time the 16th century rolled around, coffee was the cat's meow in Europe, the real hot ticket. But it wasn't until the colonial era that coffee hit the big time, when it was brought to South and Central America, places like Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. Them's countries are makin' it big now cause'a that. Now, coffee's a real big shot, a global racket, and every mornin' millions of guys like us are sippin' on a cuppa joe.

assistant: Let me tell ya, coffee's got a history like no other. It's been around since the ancient kingdoms, brewin' up a storm and keepin' folks goin' strong. From the hills of Ethiopia to the cafes of Europe, it's been the drink of choice for emperors, sultans, and common folk alike. It's been the life of the party, the fuel for revolution, and the source of inspiration for some of the greatest minds in history. And let me tell ya, it's still going strong today, serving up a bold flavor that's got folks talking from coast to coast. So, you want to know the real deal on coffee? You better brace yourself, 'cause it's got a story like no other.

assistant: African origins
Whilst the exact origins of coffee aren’t clear, there are some popular myths and legends surrounding its discovery.
Our favourite story is that it was discovered by an Ethiopian goatherd in the 10th century, who noticed his goats were full of energy and had trouble sleeping after eating the red berries of a certain bush! He tried the berries himself, before sharing them with some monks, who boiled the berries with some water to make a powerful stimulant drink to keep them awake during lengthy prayer sessions.
Other Roman and Arabian legends point to coffee being discovered much earlier – both mention a black, bitter beverage with magical stimulating powers.
In reality, all we know for sure is that coffee is indigenous to the Kaffa region of modern day Ethiopia, and that Yemeni traders first took it from there across the Arabian peninsula sometime around the start of the 12th century. By the 15th century, it was being cultivated in Yemen, and people had begun to roast the beans, to create a primitive form of the drink we know and love today.

Middle Eastern Expansion
From Yemen, coffee spread out North, across the Middle East, and by the 16th century, it has become a popular drink in Persia, Syria, Egypt and Turkey.
The first coffee houses had also begun to spring up, and quickly found favour as social centres, where people would gather to watch music, enjoy entertainment, share information and discuss important issues.
Word about coffee quickly spread, as pilgrims from all over the world going to Mecca discovered the drink for the first time. It wasn’t long before news about coffee reached European ears…

Coffee comes to Europe
European travellers and merchants first brought coffee back from the Near East at the end of the 16th century, and by the 17th century, it was becoming popular across Italy, Germany, France and England.
However, coffee wasn’t without its opponents – when North African traders first brought coffee to Venice in around 1600, the Catholic church were vehemently opposed to it, and made appeals to the Pope to ban the drink. Thankfully, the Pope insisted that he tried coffee before making a decision, and liked it so much that he gave it full Papal approval!
Just as they had in the Arab world, hundreds of coffee houses sprang up in major cities across Europe, and quickly became important centres for the discussion and development of new political and religious ideas. In England, they became so influential that Charles II tried to ban them in 1675 – but protests were so severe that the ban was repealed after just 11 days.
Within 100 years, coffee had become immensely popular across the continent, and the European powers started looking at how they could wrestle the trade monopoly on coffee away from the Arab world.

To the new world
European traders soon began taking coffee with them to the far reaches of their empires. The Dutch were the first to start growing it, establishing estates in Sri Lanka, Ceylon and Java in the 17th century.
The French and British followed suit, creating plantations in the Caribbean, before the Spanish and Portuguese introduced it to their colonies in South America.
It was the British who first exported coffee to the American colonies in the mid 17th century, although it didn’t become popular until the American Revolution, when excessive taxes on tea turned coffee into the patriots drink!

prompter: How many people world wide drink coffee, and how many different kinds are there?

assistant: Someone drink it. Thought it was good. Told to his buddy who also thought its good. Pretty while after, many many many peoples thinks today it is good.

prompter: This doesn't answer my question, can you give me a brief history of coffee? Not a poem or story of coffee.

assistant: The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the middle of the 15th century in the accounts of Ahmed al-Ghaffar in Yemen. Coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed in a similar way to how it is prepared now in Arabia. 

Accounts differ on the origin of the coffee plant prior to its appearance in Yemen. From Ethiopia, coffee could have been introduced to Yemen via trade across the Red Sea. One account credits Muhammad Ibn Sa'd for bringing the beverage to Aden from the African coast. Other early accounts say Ali ben Omar of the Shadhili Sufi order was the first to introduce coffee to Arabia. 

By the 16th century, coffee had reached the rest of the Middle East, Persia, Turkey, and North Africa. The thriving trade between Venice and North Africa, Egypt, and the Middle East (back then Ottoman Empire) brought many goods, including coffee, to the Venetian port. From Venice, it was introduced to the rest of Europe. Coffee became more widely accepted after it was deemed a Christian beverage by Pope Clement VIII in 1600. 

With the introduction of coffee in South America, rapid growth in coffee production in the continent during the second half of the 19th century was matched by growth in consumption in developed countries, though nowhere has this growth been as pronounced as in the United States, where a high rate of population growth was compounded by doubling of per capita consumption between 1860 and 1920. In the 20th century, coffee became a global commodity, creating different coffee cultures around the world.  As of 2018, Brazil was the leading grower of coffee beans, producing 35% of the world's total.