Here's a whole new insight on that part of the day so common we usually take it for granted. In 1511 the first of many decrees had been issued banning coffee consumption, but nothing could halt the spread of the drink. The replacement for morning soup originated in Abyssinia, and rapidly made its way via Mecca and Istanbul to nearly every country-a worldwide epidemic of coffeemania. Coffee plantations spread over four continents, and coffee became the subject of political and social conflict on an international scale. It also created a new institution: the coffee-house-a meeting place of the...