12/29/2025
The Global Journey of Coffee ☕
A BBC history podcast episode traced coffee’s story from its mythic beginnings to today’s café culture. Hosts Greg Jenner and Professor Jonathan Morris share surprising nuggets: Ethiopian goats kicking, Sufi monks finding a “devil’s brew,” and even a Civil War rifle with a coffee grinder! Here are the top takeaways for any coffee lover:
Legendary origins: An Ethiopian goat-herder named Kaldi (sometimes spelled “Caldy”) famously noticed his goats dancing after eating red coffee berries. When he tried brewing those berries himself, he got the first cup of coffee.
Sacred stimulant: By the early 1500s, Yemeni Sufi monks were importing coffee from Ethiopia to Yemen. They needed a pick-me-up for night-long prayers (replacing scarce khat leaves), which kickstarted coffee’s rise as a social and religious beverage.
Birth of coffeehouses: Coffee quickly became a social drink. By the 1600s, London had its first coffeehouse (1652), where people met for news, science debates, and business. In fact, one famous coffeehouse (Jonathan’s) became the seed of the London Stock Exchange and even used early ballot boxes for debates.
Holy controversy: Early on, some worried coffee was “intoxicating.” Even Pope Clement VIII allegedly called it the “devil’s brew.” Legend says he tasted coffee and declared it so delicious that “even the devil cannot stop it,” humorously baptizing it into Christian life. (Historical records show he never actually did – but the quote stuck!)
Colonial plantations: By the 1700s, European empires dominated coffee. The Caribbean (notably Haiti and Suriname) supplied about 80% of the world’s coffee from slave plantations. In Ceylon (Sri Lanka), British colonists cleared forests for coffee estates, wiping out wildlife and forcing Tamil laborers to work under brutal conditions.
Coffee and war: In early America, tea was king – but coffee gained fans quickly. The first licensed American coffee seller was Dorothy Jones in 1670. Coffee’s popularity exploded during the Civil War (1860s): Northern troops drank up to 10 cups a day for stamina, and one inventive soldier even rigged a rifle with a built-in coffee grinder.
Instant innovation: The 20th century brought instant coffee. Early versions appeared around WWI, but it was during WWII (with brands like Nescafé) that soluble coffee became big. After the war, instant coffee boomed worldwide – especially in places like the UK where freshly brewed beans were less common.
Specialty boom: Fast-forward to 1971 Seattle: the first Starbucks opened, selling only various coffee beans. It popularized the idea that coffee is like wine – with diverse flavors and varieties – rather than just a generic drink. (Today there are more coffee choices than ever!)
Modern global trends: Coffee is more global than ever. New markets in Asia are skyrocketing – China’s coffee imports jumped 50% in five years, and Seoul now has more coffee shops per capita than Seattle. Even coffee-producing countries are drinking their own brew (Indonesia now drinks ~40% of its harvest), which could reshape an industry long weighed down by colonial-era inequities.
These fun facts show coffee’s amazing journey: from mystical rituals and colonial farms to your morning latte. Each cup we drink today is steeped in rich history – cheers to that!
Check it out!! Link below.
Sources: BBC Radio 4, You’re Dead to Me – History of Coffee (2025)
Join Greg and his guests to learn all about the history of coffee.
