The Wild and Unruly History of Coffee

October 4th, 2009 by keen bean

Imagine the role of a coffee supplier back in the fifteenth century. By that point, coffee had spread throughout the Middle East as a beverage made from raw coffee beans that was being processed by first roasting and then brewing. The whole endeavour would have initially begun on a small scale and been the model for the fair trade formula of today. There would have been small individual farms that did not involve anything other than organic growth.

As the centuries passed, coffee gained its place in the beverage hierarchy in different ways. Of interest, is that though originally not very popular in North America, the high tax placed upon tea by the British led to a protest by the Americans against tea, and thus turned them towards coffee. Then during the American Revolution the importation of tea by the British was halted and once again coffee stepped up. Thus, the history of coffee has been wild and unruly, and the return to fair trade procedures one of great value. Today it is lovely to be able to enjoy the simplicity of purchasing fair trade coffee online.