Every once in a while, a study is published – the kind that makes you think that some people need a busier schedule – blaming coffee for all kinds of plagues, from jaw-shattering headaches and mood swings to insomnia and terrible eyesight.

Yet we just turn the page and sip our espresso. It’s not that we think these studies are a waste of paper. Rather, it’s because no research can compare to that most beautiful experience – the coffee pot gargling its first brew of the day, the aroma haunting the kitchen, as heavy and generous as the ghost of Christmas past, and the first sip kissing our lips good morning.

Aside from fire, the art of roasting and grinding coffee must be one of the greatest inventions in the history of mankind. Coffee gives us inspiration, fuels conversation and gossip, and is the perfect companion to a good book.

Yet coffee is more than just a drink – it has formed our society and brewed our greatest ideas. In the Ottoman Empire, coffee houses provided entertainment and a space for civilised social dialogue. They were places for men to gather and disseminate the oral culture of the Ottoman Empire. Their popularity was seen as threatening to the empire – in fact, in 1656, the Ottoman Grand Vizier Koprulu issued laws which made coffee houses and coffee drinking illegal. Punishment for disobedience included beating and death by drowning. These laws proved to be so unpopular that eventually they were withdrawn to popular acclaim.

An Italian who doesn’t drink coffee is as rare as a vegetarian living in Argentina, where meat is served with a side of meat

So close is the association between coffee and ideas that many argue that the Enlightenment in Europe formed its roots when coffee houses started opening. The French Revolution also sprung from a cafe at the Palais Royal. Coffee continued to infuse political and intellectual life in France – closer to our day, the 1968 student revolt in France was fuelled by caffeine.

But nowhere is the social fabric so closely linked to coffee than in Italy, a nation that fell in love with the dark material the moment the first coffee bean arrived at the port of Venice, brought from the Islamic world in the 16th century.

But it’s not just the Italians who respect coffee – the whole world is waking up and smelling the delicious aroma. In the UK, for instance, there are now more than 14,000 coffee shops, up from 1,380 just a decade ago. Even in China, the world’s foremost tea drinking nation, coffee houses are becoming more popular.

Appreciation of coffee is growing not just by numbers – nowadays, an instant just won’t do and we have become increasingly sophisticated in coffee drinking. We value the origins of coffee, know the difference between arabica and robusta beans, and can speak for hours (or at least, minutes) on why Yemeni and Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee are the world’s most expensive varieties.

Such worldwide appreciation befits a drink which has journeyed so long and far. While wild coffee has been harvested since ancient times, the formal cultivation of coffee started in Yemen in the 1300s, where coffee had been introduced by Abyssinian invaders in 525AD. Trade routes brought coffee to the Arabian peninsula – pilgrims and traders disseminated coffee to the far corners of the Islamic world. From there, it reached Europe through Venice, Marseilles, Amsterdam, London and Vienna.

Nations drank coffee and made it their own. Of course, like pizza and pasta, Italians have perfected coffee. All Italians drink coffee – an Italian who doesn’t drink coffee is as rare as a vegetarian living in Argentina, where meat is served with a side of meat. And they drink it with a passion, from the first espresso or cappuccino of the day, to the post-prandial espresso and finally the caffè corretto before their evening passeggiata.

Italians don’t just drink coffee – they are sticklers for the little rituals which make drinking coffee a fine ceremony. Have you ever noticed how Italians are faithful to just one bar which they frequent every day for their coffee? Together with the other regulars, they discuss football and politics while exchanging banter with the barista. Even at home, they observe their own personal coffee ritual – watching an Italian prepare his macchinetta is like observing a surgeon about to perform the most serious of operations.

The end result of such rituals is a rich, creamy, perfectly balanced coffee, with not one single coffee ground burnt.

When in Italy

Only drink cappuccino, caffè latte, or any milky form of coffee in the morning and never after a meal.

Never order an espresso. In Italy, espresso is the default setting for coffee – a single espresso is simply known as un caffè.

Don’t faff around with coffee. Ordering a strawberry frappuccino in Italy is like mixing a single malt with lemonade in Scotland.

Don’t sit down – coffee should be downed in one gulp while standing.

A caffè doppio is a rare creature – Italians drink a lot of coffee, but only in small and steady doses.