New England Coffee

By Author: Randy Wilson
Total Articles: 56
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In 1607 The London Company sent 105 adventurous employees to the New World and the founding American colony of Jamestown was created. In New England coffee would not appear until around 1660.

The coffee craze of the 1700's was well underway in England, however, unlike in London where the coffeehouse had a distinct and respected persona all its own, the American coffeehouse shared space with pubs and taverns. New England coffee was a beverage that was consumed along side ale and rum and therefore was not well received by the refined upper class. Coffee was seen as a debaucherous and wicked beverage that only drunks used to sober themselves up. Tea was the beverage of choice among the affluent.

New England coffee remained the harsh and bitter astringent of drunks for 75 more years or so until 1773 when, in protest to the very high taxes the British government placed on tea and "taxation without representation", American colonists staged the rebellious Boston Tea Party and threw case after case of English tea into Boston Harbor.

In 1774 the Continental Congressed passed a resolution against the ...
... consumption of tea and renounced British rule as revolution loomed. The sentiment of the country can be summarized in a line that John Adams wrote in a letter to his wife shortly thereafter, "Tea must be universally rejected and I as well must be weaned, the sooner the better."

The image of New England coffee began to change as it was now seen as the beverage of the American patriot. From the dark and smelly taverns to the tables of aristocrats, drinking New England coffee became a patriotic duty and a symbolic gesture of independence.

A new American coffeehouse emerged and became a gathering place for casual conversation as well as a central political forum for revolution campaigning. The role that New England coffee played in the creation of the world's most powerful country is often overlooked yet is a key element in the independence of the United States. As Americans rallied against tea, they in turn rallied in support of coffee, a trend that continues to this day. America is the world's largest consumer of coffee and the world's least consumer of tea.

Revolutionary soldiers carried coffee in their field rations as have soldiers of every war Americans have ever fought, hence the term ‘cup of Joe', as in G.I. Joe. So I raise my mug in patriotic salute to the resistance of tyranny and oppression, "Give me coffee or give me death!" Well, maybe not death.

© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.
About the Author Randy works with his son on Ultimate Coffees Info. Randy owned and operated a very successful storefront/mailorder business from 1988 to 2003. Currently full time owner/operator of several online businesses.