Before 1000

Members of the Galla tribe in Ethiopia notice that they get an energy boost when they eat a certain berry, ground up and mixed with animal fat.

1000

Arab traders bring coffee back to their homeland and cultivate the plant for the first time on plantations. They also began to boil the beans, creating a drink they call “qahwa” (literally, ‘that which prevents sleep’).

1453

Coffee is introduced to Constantinople by Ottoman Turks. The world’s first coffee shop, Kiva Han, opened there in 1475. Turkish law makes it legal for a woman to divorce her husband if he failed to provide her with her daily quota of coffee.

1511

Khair Beg, the corrupt governor of Mecca, tries to ban coffee for fear that its influence might foster opposition to his rule. The sultan sends word that coffee is sacred and has the governor executed.

1600

Coffee, introduced to the West by Italian traders, grabs attention in high places. In Italy, Pope Clement VIII is urged by his advisers to consider that favorite drink of the Ottoman Empire part of the infidel threat. However, he decides to “baptize” it instead, making it an acceptable Christian beverage.

1607

Captain John Smith helps to found the colony of Virginia at Jamestown. It’s believed that he introduced coffee to North America.

1645

First coffeehouse opens in Italy.

1652

First coffeehouse opens in England. Coffee houses multiply and become such popular forums for learned and not-so-learned discussion that they are dubbed “penny universities” (a penny being the price of a cup of coffee).

1668

Coffee replaces beer as New York City’s favorite breakfast drink.

Edward Lloyd’s coffeehouse opens in England and is frequented by merchants and maritime insurance agents. Eventually it becomes Lloyd’s of London, the best-known insurance company
in the world.

1672

First coffeehouse opens in Paris.

1690

With a coffee plant smuggled out of the Arab port of Mocha, the Dutch become the first to transport and cultivate coffee commercially, in Ceylon and in their East Indian colony Java, source of the brew’s nickname.

1721

First coffeehouse opens in Berlin.

1727

The Brazilian coffee industry gets its start when Lieutenant Colonel Francisco de Melo Palheta is sent by government to arbitrate a border dispute between the French and the Dutch colonies in Guiana.

1773

The Boston Tea Party makes drinking coffee a patriotic duty in America.

1775

Prussia’s Frederick the Great tries to block imports of green coffee, as Prussia’s wealth is drained. Public outcry changes his mind.

1886

Former wholesale grocer Joel Cheek names his popular coffee blend “Maxwell House” after the hotel in Nashville, TN where it’s served.

1900

In Germany, afternoon coffee becomes a standard occasion. The derogatory term “KaffeeKlatsch” is coined to describe women’s gossip at these affairs. Since broadened to mean relaxed conversation in general.

Hills Bros. begins packing roast coffee in vacuum tins, spelling the end of the ubiquitous local roasting shops and coffee mills.

1901

Japanese-American chemist Satori Kato of Chicago invents the first soluble “instant” coffee.

1903

German coffee importer Ludwig Roselius turn a batch of ruined coffee beans over to researchers, who perfect the process of removing caffeine from the beans without destroying the flavor. He markets it under the brand name “Sanka.” Sanka is introduced to the United States in 1923.

1906

George Constant Washington, an English chemist living in Guatemala, notices a powdery condensation forming on the spout of his silver coffee carafe. After experimentation,
he creates the first mass-produced instant coffee (his brand is called Red E Coffee).

1920

Prohibition goes into effect in United States. Coffee sales boom.

1938

Having been asked by Brazil to help find a solution to their coffee surpluses, Nestle company invents freeze-dried coffee. Nestle develops Nescafe and introduces it in Switzerland.

1940

The US imports 70 percent of the world coffee crop.

1942

During W.W.II, American soldiers are issued instant Maxwell House coffee in their ration kits.
Back home, widespread hoarding leads to coffee rationing.

1946

In Italy, Achilles Gaggia perfects his espresso machine. Cappuccino is named for the resemblance of its color to the robes of the monks of the Capuchin order.