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This posting has several "facts" completely wrong.

Dr. Ernesto (not Ernest) Illy just died recently. He's the second generation of the Illy family of coffee fame.

http://coffeegeek.com/opinions/coffeeatthemoment/02-04-2008

His father, Francesco Illy, was a Hungarian who emigrated to Italy and in 1932 started in the coffee business. In the mid 1930s, Illy invented a hydraulic espresso machine that was never commercially viable or sold.

Another very wrong bit of information - about coffee and the French. You said "In 1713, the Dutch accidentally supplied King Louis XIV of France with a coffee bush."

That's not true. The king had been given the coffee plant as a gift, and it was growing in the royal gardens. It is true that someone surreptitiously took (stole, whatever) some plantlings from this tree and imported them into south (and central) america. But how the coffee plant was obtained by the French is false.

There's more, but these two points particularly stick out. You really need to check your sources.

I have noted your comment regarding the prototype of the first espresso machine. Two of my sources had conflicting information as to the year, so I removed his name in case one source meant to reference a different person. They both, however, named him as "Ernest."

Additionally, one of my sources said that the Dutch "unwittingly" provided the French with a coffee bush. The other said nothing either way.

Thank you for your interest in my article. I can assure you I do check my sources, but am always willing to correct obvious errors.

Samantha Marcelo
Invention History Writer
InventorSpot.com

According to national folklore, the origin of coffee is firmly rooted in Ethiopia's history. Their most popular legend concerns the goat herder from Kaffa, where the plants still grow wild in the forest hills. After discovering his goats to be excited, almost dancing on their hind legs, he noticed a few mangled branches of the coffee plant which was hung with bright red berries. He tried the berries himself and rushed home to his wife who told him that he must tell the monks. The monks tossed the sinful drug into the flames, an action soon to be followed by the smell we are all so familiar with now. They crushed the beans, raked them out of the fire, and distilled the stimulating substance in boiling water. Within minutes the monastery filled with the heavenly aroma of roasting beans, and the other monks gathered to investigate. After sitting up all night, they found a renewed energy to their holy devotions. The rest, as they say, is history.

sometime around 300 ad :)

Thanks for the comment! I'd read about that story (it's very interesting), but I also read a couple of others so I didn't include anything definitive in my article. However, the stories I did read all took place in Africa! 

Samantha Marcelo
Invention History Writer
InventorSpot.com