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Coffee is a member of the genus Coffea of the family Rubiceae.
It is a bush which can grow up to 8 feet or higher. Its leaves and berries contain up to 2% caffeine, which is a stimulant.

Two varieties are planted:
-Coffea Arabica: variety that produces high quality coffee and is planted on farms in Antigua.
-Coffea Canefora: this variety produces coffee of lower quality but the plant is resistant to fungus.

Coffee was first found in Ethiopia, Africa. According to legend, it was found by a goatherd who noticed that his goats became excited when they fed on leaves of a certain bush.
After trying himself the leaves and berries, he gave them to a local monk who found them useful for keeping audiences awake during his long sermons.

From Ethiopia the drinking of coffee spread to other Arabic countries. During the sixteenth century, the use of coffee spread to Europe and then to the American continent.
Coffee arrived in Guatemala in 1721 where it was used by Jesuit priests as an ornamental plant.