A taste of coffee history in Leipzig

th century, it spread via trade routes north from Arabia, and Europe was never the same again.

In Leipzig, Germany, the locals' gratitude for this remarkable beverage appears above the doorway of Zum Arabischen Coffe Baum. A gilt-edged sculpture depicts a man in Eastern garb handing a cup of coffee to a young boy, with a coffee tree standing behind them.

Opened in 1711, the "Arabian Coffee Tree" is Germany's oldest cafe. And located on the floors above it is Leipzig's Coffee Museum, continuing the tribute to that much-loved brew.

An interesting series of exhibits winds around the building's central light well, detailing the history of coffee. There's a room full of coffee mills, an innovation which succeeded the mortar and pestle and made the beans easier to grind.

Another room has a marvellous collection of decorated coffee cups, which combined the European mania for porcelain with the novelty of this stimulating new drink.

There's a cup with a moustache guard, a lady's cup and carry case, and a cup used by Napoleon in 1813. There's also a complicated early espresso machine from Berlin, a tall contraption dotted with multiple faucets, pipes and valves.

More interesting than this gear, however, is the museum's outline of the social history of coffee.

From its introduction, the drink's reputation swung between reputable and dodgy. Early coffee houses were associated with gambling and prostitution, but could also be places of learning and genteel ladies' social gatherings.