What did people do before coffee? How did they wake up and rode that donkey to work every day if they didn't have an espresso machine in their cave? well, the funny thing is, people used to wake up and just drink wine or beer. And they kept drinking alcoholic beverages throughout the day. You see, people had no idea what bacteria was, but they did know that if they drink dirty water they will get sick, and they did notice that drinking wine or beer did not make them sick. Today we know that alcohol kills bacteria but back then they used to just walk around drunk 24/7.
It wasn't until people started making coffee and tea that people stopped drinking alcohol all day long. Again, they had no idea that boiling water kills bacteria, they just knew coffee and tea were safe to drink. So you could say that coffee saved humanity! yes, I like that!