Statement of historical question
Consumption of coffee in the America. What role does Starbucks play in the American coffee culture?
Thesis Statement
The evolution of the American coffee culture traces its origins from the seventeenth century. Over the years, the country would grow to become the largest consumer of coffee in the world. It is corporations such as Starbucks have served to spread this culture across the globe.
Annotated Bibliography
William H. Urke. All about coffee. Newyork, Newyork the tea and coffee trade Journal Company 1922, Retrieved Apr 13, 2016 from http://ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/2/8/5/0/28500/28500-h/28500-h.htm
Urke was an author in 18th and 19th centuries that focused primarily on tea and coffee. His book offers an accurate account on various aspects of coffee at the time ranging from planting, processing and its trading.
Hewitt, Robert, Jr,. Coffee: Its History, Cultivation, and Uses. New York: D. Appleton and
Company, 1872. Retrieved Apr 13, 2016 from
https://books.google.co.ke/books/about/Coffee.html?id=NstBAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y
Hewitt is an 18th century historian that specialized on coffee. Travelled around the world in coffee growing trading areas. The book offers an insight into how coffee came into America and how it was accepted
Thurber, Francis B. Coffee: from plantation to cup; a brief history of coffee production and
consumption. Newyork, American Grocer Publishing Association. 1885. Print
The book is invaluable in examining coffee processing techniques in the 18th century. It also gives an insight into the coffee trade in America at the time.
Tucker, Catherine. Coffee Culture, Local Experiences, and Global Connections. New York,
Routledge, 2011. Print.
Tucker, a lecturer of history has extensively dealt with the subject of coffee consumption in America. Her book offers insights on the critical role that coffee plays in the modern American society.
Markman, Ellis. An Introduction to the Coffee-House: A Discursive Model. London,
Language & Communication, 2008. Print.
The book provides a history of 17th century coffee houses and how they formed the template for the American coffee houses.
Smith, Andrew, F. The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. Newyork, Oxford
The book explores the history of America’s food and how it has been affected by the various cultures present in the country. It particularly deals with the rise of the fast food culture including coffee in the modern times.
Writing plan
I would first gather as much material as possible in regard to the various aspects of coffee I intend to work on which includes both primary and secondary sources. The biggest challenge would however be finding credible primary sources given that part of the period to be covered is some centuries back. Your help would be considerable in determining what kind of rhetorical appeal I should make in the paper.
Since the seventeenth century, Americans have indulged in the drinking of coffee religiously. Over time, the drink rose to become a national beverage. In the later years, coffee would become a symbol of patriotism and America as the mother of globalization as American Corporations established coffee chains throughout the world. The most notable of those corporations is Starbucks because its coffee shops can be found in most of the major cities around the world.
The growth of the coffee culture in the United States is even more intriguing considering that coffee was never native to America; it was introduced into the country during the seventeenth century. Coffee, which traces its origins to Ethiopia, has become one of the most valuable commodities traded in the world. In fact, it comes only second to oil in the international commodities trade. Its origin as a non-alcoholic stimulant is more mythical than scientific yet notwithstanding this fact, coffee became part of the American culture (Smith, 63).
In America, Captain John Smith, the founder of the Virginia colony in Jamestown, was the first person to bring the knowledge of coffee into North America. The year was 1607, and this was after his frequent visits to Turkey, one of the early civilizations that had already discovered the importance of coffee (William). Even today, coffee is an important commodity in Turkey as well as the Middle East.
However, in America, coffee did not achieve its national status immediately. After the introduction of coffee in America, Native Americans clinched to it so much to the extent that they attacked wagon trains mainly to get coffee. Over time, the Englishmen took advantage of the new found love for coffee. They started trading it in exchange for buffalo robes. As a result, coffee became some sought of a currency between the two races (Markman, 113).
The first official record of coffee in New England was in 1670.At the onset of coffee houses, they were mainly divided into four: taverns, ordinaries, inns and coffee houses (Thurber, 13). The inn was the modest, supplying lodging facilities, foods, and drinks. Taverns were more of drinking dens though some had lodging facilities. Ordinaries had the attributes of both hotels and lodgings. The coffee house was more of a tavern serving mostly alcoholic drinks and coffee.
The first coffee house “The King’s Arms” was established in New York in 1696 (Smith, 89). With time, coffee houses fashioned along English and French prototypes were mushrooming all over the colony. In 1839, the Lake Street Coffee House was established in Chicago. The location of the coffee house was strategic as there were a number of hotels for accommodation around the place, especially for the wealthy (Hewitt). Perhaps, this forms the basis of the origins of coffee as an upper-class drink in America.
The growth of coffee as America’s national non-alcoholic drink was not by design. In the eighteenth century, the consumption of tea in England had grown exponentially mainly due to the propaganda and marketing of the British East India Company. Owing to the good fortunes the company encountered from the trading of tea, it resorted to the push for the sale of tea in Britain’s colonies including New England.
However, the “tea fever” missed America due to King George enacting the Stamp Act of 1765. As a result, there were boycotts of British goods in New England due to what they termed as “no taxation without representation.” Under pressure, the British East India Company appealed to the Crown to repeal the law. In 1766, the law was repealed; however, the right to tax remained. The boycott of Britain’s tea thus persisted, and the Americans turned into the smuggling of tea from Holland.
The 1773 Boston Tea Party saw citizens disguised as American Natives board English ships at the Boston Port and toss off tea shipments into the sea. The act in Boston had effectively tilted the balance in favor of coffee for it became associated with the clamor for independence and the climax of patriotism. Consequently, Boston played a central role in the establishment of America’s coffee culture (Smith, 72).
Dorothy Jones was the first person to be granted the license to sell coffee and chocolate in Boston in 1670. The London Coffee House was later founded in Boston followed by the Gutteridge. The Blue Anchor, which also served coffee, was a popular lodging and eating place for the aristocrats. At this point, the taverns that also sold liquor became synonymous with the poor. It is the growth of these coffee houses that spread the consumption of coffee. It is perhaps important to note that the coffee houses were not merely places of drinking coffee, but they also acted as social meeting points.
It is, therefore, important to look at the socially acceptable attribute of coffee as a stimulating power. Coffee was referred to as the “magic drink” that rendered people happier and equipped them to fight the battle of life. Poems were even written to celebrate this attribute of coffee (Tucker, 73). Coffee was also a more acceptable stimulant when compared to alcohol and tobacco since despite having similar stimulating effects, it did not have similar negative consequences as the two.
Another reason for the spread of the coffee culture was the improving roasting and grinding technologies that made coffee not only cheap but also tasty. A look at how coffee was being processed before the advancement of the technologies reveals that it was a cumbersome process. Up until the nineteenth century, making coffee was a labor intensive process. The process involved procuring whole coffee beans, which were then washed and dried. The beans were then roasted using a pan with the need for constant care to ensure that they browned evenly.
In some instances, hollow iron cylinders were used to roast the beans (Markman, 166). After roasting, the beans were then ground in a coffee mill. However, the use of a pestle and mortar widely used in Turkey gained prominence as it was readily available. The ground coffee was then ready to be used in preparing coffee. It is, therefore, evident that the process was labor intensive and required constant attention.
The California Gold Rush also played a part in the expansion of the coffee culture. The likes of James Folger began selling ground coffee to the miners in California. Consequently, it was the beginning of an era for established coffee producers such as the Hills Brothers and the Maxwell House. It is these improvements in technology and the spirit of entrepreneurship that made coffee more readily accessible, cheaper and tastier.
World War I marked an important turning point in the evolution of coffee in America and the world at large. Prior to the war, coffee had grown to become a luxury commodity. The growing demand saw countries such as Brazil increase production to the extent that it produced 75% of the world’s coffee before the war. The coffee chain was a complex and interwoven system globally since most of the countries if not involved in the direct production, acted as the international trading and financial hubs for coffee. As a result, despite the war being concentrated in Europe, the impact on coffee trade was global.
The war led to the disruption of the transatlantic trade. Coffee exchanges in Europe were closed. Trading with the Enemy Act of 1914 in Britain compelled all banks in London to cut ties with the Central powers (William). Naval blockades also prevented the free flow of trade in Europe. As a result of the disruptions in trade, coffee producers in South America (more so Brazil) experienced a sharp decline in foreign trade. The lack of investments from the Europeans also led to the decline of South American coffee farming. The Central Powers could only buy coffee from neutral countries which were primarily in Scandinavia such as Holland.
In 1915, Germany imported a vast amount of imported coffee from Brazil through Sweden. The volumes were so big that the British took note and subsequently placed a ban on all exports to Sweden. For countries such as Holland, they faced considerable pressure from the British to the extent that they stopped importing South American coffee on behalf of the Central Powers (Smith, 97).
Instead, it only sold coffee produced from its colonies, which was not of the best quality. By 1917, Holland had succumbed to pressure and ceased any form of coffee trade with the Central Powers. That incident had the unintended consequence of leaving America as the only stable market that South American coffee-producing countries could rely on own..
The period also experienced an increase in American investments in the coffee sector in South America. Consequently, the U.S became the primary market for South American coffee. Furthermore, the state control over coffee in Europe made it difficult for their citizens to acquire the precious commodity. To the credit of the U.S, coffee trading remained free hence citizens were able to enjoy the benefits of low prices as a result of the resumption of high production levels in Brazil.
After the war, the European market remained relatively weak for some years due to the extent of the destruction caused by the war (Markman, 203). As a result, the growth of Europe as a principal coffee market did not take root. The onset of the rise of the U.S as the coffee king had begun in earnest. The increase in coffee consumption rose up until the Second World War when the country experienced coffee rationing.
Despite rising coffee production in Brazil and other parts of South America, coffee supply in the U.S was reducing due to the war. One of the reasons advanced for the short coffee supply was the limited shipping available at the time. Most of the ships had been diverted to focus on supplying the war front. Furthermore, German U-boats patrolling the transatlantic shipping lanes would frequently sink merchant ships.
As of April 1942, the U.S government limited coffee millers to only 75% of the production of the preceding year. By September of the same year, the amount had been reduced to 65%. Eventually, the Office of Price Administration also rationed coffee for the civilians. Prior to the war, the consumption of coffee in America was at its highest. The trend had caught on to the extent that even with the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt held a weekly radio show dubbed “Over Our Coffee Cups”.
The coffee rationing reduced the amount of coffee available for the people to just about half. The ingenuity of the popular mass media came up with ways through which people could either cut their coffee consumption by half or how they could stretch their coffee by using half as much per serving. Some of the media articles even suggested boiling coffee on the stove or double dripping using a drip coffee maker. Coffee shops that served bottomless coffee cups now limited their customers to only consuming a single cup. Some of these shops offered a second cup but wildly exaggerated prices.
In February 1943, the coffee ration was further reduced. An individual was now allowed only a pound of coffee for every six weeks down from the previous five weeks. Customers were also encouraged to purchase the coffee in staggered stages instead of a wholesale purchase. However, the rationing had become so unpopular that the discontent was noted by the political class. In June, President Roosevelt ended the coffee rationing. However, the extent to which Americans were willing to go to have a cup of coffee had become a darling of the American society.
In the post-war period, there was an increasing awareness for specialty coffee. Small, independently owned cafes began brewing the specialty coffees. It was at this that the coffee break became institutionalized in American culture. Most of the initiatives directed towards the institutionalization of coffee were funded by the Pan American Coffee Bureau. The Bureau exploited advertising to its fullest extent in a bid to raise the consumption of coffee not only in offices but also hospitals, factories and, in some areas, even churches. It is in this period that the
Bureau initiated the “coffee stop” campaign that sought to encourage motorists to stop regularly for a cup of coffee to prevent sleeping on the wheel.
Today, more than 80% of the U.S population adults consume coffee on a daily basis with the average consumption being 200mg per person, therefore, creating a situation in which millions of Americans are said to be caffeine-dependent.
The Role of Starbucks in Spreading America’s Coffee Culture
However, none of all those initiatives had such a profound effect on coffee consumption in the U.S as compared to the establishment of Starbucks. Founded on the 30th of March in 1971, Starbucks has grown to become the largest coffee chain not only in the U.S but across the globe. The chain founded by Zev Siegl, Gordon Bowker and Jerry Baldwin opened Starbuck’s first outlet in Seattle, Washington. The founders were inspired to start the business in order to take advantage of the demand for high-quality coffee as well as equipment for roasting coffee.
The growth of Starbucks has played a key role in the spread of American culture and ideals throughout the world. It is, therefore, important to have a background look at the spread of the coffee chain. After its founding, the company continued to grow both organically and inorganically. In 1984, the company bought Peet’s, a small-sized coffee chain specializing in specialty coffees. The purchase helped stabilized Starbucks given that at the time, the overall demand for coffee was falling though that of specialty coffee was rising.
The sale of Starbucks to Howard Schultz; a coffee entrepreneur, perhaps gave the company the greatest push it needed to become a globalbrand. Under Schultz, Starbucks expanded outside of Washington into Vancouver and Chicago. The growth of the company spread throughout the country in the 1980s. In 1992, the company had its IPO at a time when it had only about one hundred and fifty outlets across North America.
The funds raised helped the company double its outlets. In 1996, Starbucks opened its first outlet in Tokyo, which was followed by its entry into Britain following the acquisition of the Seattle Coffee Company in the country. At the turn of the century, the company expanded into Latin and South America. In 2007, it ventured into Russia. The entry of Starbucks into Africa marked its presence in all the continents except Antarctica (Forbes.com).
Part of the success of Starbucks is not only attributed to its retail outlets but also its wholesale business, which has enabled it to acquire a strong foothold of the entire coffee production chain. In 2002, it established a coffee trading company to handle purchases of raw coffee. In 2008, it acquired the manufacturer of the Clover Brewing system, which then enabled it to produce the fresh pressed coffee in some selected outlets. It is Starbuck’s ability to have full control of the entire value chain that has ensured it maintains top-notch coffee quality in all its outlets. Starbuck’s coffee has been described as “strong, burnt and bitter enough to make your eyes water instead of open” (Forbes.com).
It is the same sentiment about Starbuck’s coffee that is shared by many of its outlets around the world. It is this consistency that has enabled it to create a brand that is a representation of not only the American coffee culture but also its societal ideals. Its ability to survive over the decades has been in its ability to adapt to the various demands of the modern customer, especially in terms of technology yet at the same time maintaining its quality. To date, the chain has over 20,000 outlets in sixty-two countries.
Ultimately, the story of America’s coffee culture is one of sheer dominance. It is interesting that Americans took to something that was not native to them and made it their own to the extent that coffee is associated with America. This is despite the fact that the country does not produce any coffee of its own. To Americans, coffee is more than just a drink; it is a representation of their patriotic ideals and their independence. As a result, the pride with which Americans take their coffee has been exported across the globe by American coffee chains such as Starbucks. It is also evident that Starbucks and the American coffee culture have contributed immensely to globalization.
Works Cited
Forbes.com. "Starbucks". Forbes.com. May 2013. Web. Retrieved Apr 12, 2016
Hewitt, Robert Jr. Coffee: Its History, Cultivation, and Uses. New York: D. Appleton and
Company, 1872. Retrieved Apr 13, 2016 from
https://books.google.co.ke/books/about/Coffee.html?id=NstBAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=yf
Markman, Ellis. An Introduction to the Coffee-House: A Discursive Model. London,
Language & Communication, 2008. Print.
Smith, Andrew, F. The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. Newyork, Oxford
Thurber, Francis B. Coffee: from plantation to cup; a brief history of coffee production and
consumption. Newyork, American Grocer Publishing Association. 1885. Print.
Tucker, Catherine. Coffee Culture, Local Experiences, and Global Connections. New York,
Routledge, 2011. Print.
William, H. Urke. All about coffee. Newyork, Newyork the tea and coffee trade Journal Company 1922, Retrieved Apr 13, 2016 from http://ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/2/8/5/0/28500/28500-h/28500-h.htm
