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11 Historic Coffee Milestones – Do you love to start your morning out with a fresh cup of coffee? If so, you are amongst the 150 million Americans that consume coffee. That is half of the country’s population! Those who drink coffee in the country drink an average of 3 cups of day. Coffee isn’t just popular in America; the rich history of the caffeinated drink spans the entire globe.
So, pull up a chair and sip your cup of joe while we share 11 historical milestones about coffee.
1. Kaldi Discovers Coffee In Ethiopia
Around 850 A.D., a goat herder named Kaldi discovered coffee. Kaldi hailed from Abyssinia, which now modern-day Ethiopia. When Kaldi excitedly brought coffee berries to a monastery, a monk threw them into the fire. As the coffee beans roasted, the entire monastery filled with the aroma of coffee. The monks raked the beans from the fire, crushed them, and poured water over them. The monks stayed up all night, drinking this new concoction. Word soon spread and other parts of Asia and Africa incorporated the caffeinated drink into their lives.
2. Coffee Comes to Europe
Several hundred years later, coffee finally arrives in Europe. In 1599, Sir Antony Shirley sailed from Venice to Aleppo, Syria, where he first discovered coffee. Eventually, Italian traders brought coffee from the Ottoman Empire to Venice. Everyone who tried coffee loved it, even Pope Clement VIII.
3. Coffee Comes to the New World
Some believe Captain John Smith brought the first coffee to the New World in 1607. However, some historians believe coffee arrived before that and in Canada, not Virginia.
4. The First Coffee House Opens in England
In 1637, a Jewish immigrant from Turkey opened the first coffee house in England. In 1652, London got its first coffee house. British coffee houses became known as “penny universities.” The coffee houses charged one penny for a cup of coffee. Also, students flocked to the coffee houses, much as they do today. By 1675, England hosted over 3,000 coffee houses.
5. Coffee Houses Come to America and France
As coffee grew in popularity, two prominent coffee houses open in the Americas. In either 1696 or 1697, New York’s King’s Arms opened. In Boston, the Green Dragon opens in 1697. Coffee houses continued to become popular throughout the world. The first coffee houses in Paris were established in 1672. Coffee houses also opened in Germany and Austria.
6. Coffee Is Produced Around the World
Throughout the 1700s, many countries began producing coffee. At this time, coffee plantations developed in Haiti, French Guyana, Brazil, Jamaica, and the East Dutch Indies.
7. Coffee Becomes a Patriotic Beverage in America
In 1773, thanks to the Boston Tea Party, coffee became the preferred beverage in America. From that day, drinking coffee was a statement of freedom from England and loyalty to America.
8. The Espresso Machine Is Invented
In 1822, a Frenchman named Louis Bernard Babaut developed a prototype of the first espresso machine. The machine was commercialized in 1843. In 1855, the Paris Exhibition included a coffee display. The machine made 1,000 cups of coffee per hour. It wasn’t until 1901 that a commercial espresso machine became available.
9. The Automatic Drip Coffee Maker Is Invented
The coffee maker that most households in America are familiar with wasn’t invented until 1972. Vincent Marotta, an entrepreneur from Ohio, invented the automatic drip coffee maker. Baseball star Joe DiMaggio pitched the new coffee maker on television. By the end of the decade, 40,000 coffee makers were being sold every day.
10. Coffee Becomes Most Popular Drink on the Planet
By 1995, the world was consuming over 400 billion cups of coffee every year. This made coffee the most popular drink on the planet.
11. Coffee Takes Over America
In 2010, the United States had the most coffee drinkers in the world. In just one day, coffee drinkers in the country consume 400 million cups of coffee.
