Coffee – A Historical Tour - Part IV

Coffee – A Historical Tour
By
Roger X. Navas-Balladares

Part IV

Astonished by the profit of the Dutch and French coffee plantations the new Brazilian government wanted a piece of the pie, or should be way cup. So it is said that a Lt. Col Melo Palheta designed an international plot to smuggle raw coffee bean or seedlings from the Dutch colonies to the North.

Colonel Palheta was sent to French Guiana to broker a border dispute and charmed the Governor’s wife into giving him a few seedlings concealed in a parting gift. From this illicit affair, spawns the world’s largest coffee based economy of the 1800’s.

Coffee was taking Europe and the New World by storm. To this day, coffee is only second to Petroleum in volume of trade world-wide. The little humble bitter bean has been blamed for revolutions, international intrigues, baptized by the Catholic Church, and banned by many protestant sects.

Coffee was at the heart of the American Revolution as well. As part of the Boston Tea Revolt, the new Americans are said to have forsaken tea, and adopted coffee as the national drink. Americans started to consume coffee and with each decade continue their climb to become one of the world’s largest consumers of the little green beans.

Through the decades, we have consumed inferior quality beans, adding different things such as chicory, roasted fish scales, bitter herbs to hide the taste of inferior beans. We have even attempted to substitute the greatness of coffee with roasted grains, but have resistance if futile. Coffee is King and it is here to stay.

Americans are learning to appreciate good coffee. Little by little, the large tubs of coffee found at your local grocers are being displaced by bins of gourmet coffee beans from around the world. We are opting to purchase our coffee whole bean vs. ground. Soon, we will demand not just a fresh brewed cup of Joe, but a “fresh roast” as well. I foresee the day when coffee roasters will be forced to place a roasting date on their coffee bags so that we can all see how fresh our coffee really is.

At Split Bean Coffee, we micro-roast our coffees to order to assure our customers always receive the freshest roast possible. Try any of our single origin coffees, or blends. We will even grind it to your specifications. Just be sure to only order what you would consume in one or two weeks maximum, otherwise, your coffee just like your cream won’t taste good.

www.SplitBeanCoffee.com