When was Coffee Introduced in America? (Solved & Explained!)

There is no certain date that coffee was first brought to America. However, it is known that it first arrived in the 17th century. However, it would not become popular in the colonies until the Boston Tea Party of 1773, when American colonists began to boycott tea due to the taxes placed on it by King George III of England. 

There’s a lot to know about the history of coffee in America, and how it went from a backup to overtaxed tea to one of, if not the most popular drink in the country! Read on to find out everything there is to know about when coffee was introduced in America. 

Where did Coffee come from?

Coffee came from many tropical environments throughout the world and was one of many commodities that came to the west through the colonization of many island territories. One of the most common places that coffee came from is the island of Java in Indonesia, which is where the term “java” to describe coffee originally came from. 

Other places that had coffee included Hawaii, Central America, Indonesia, Ethiopia, and many other warm environments. 

When did westerners start drinking coffee?

Westerners began to drink coffee soon after it was found and began being shipped back to the home countries of the explorers and colonists who’d originally found it. By the 17th century, it had become a popular drink amongst many Europeans, who used it, much like today, to increase their energy and concentration levels. 

However, some reacted poorly to coffee and were fearful or suspicious of it. It was even banned in Venice in 1615 due to being a satanic beverage. 

When was coffee first discovered?

There is no documented discovery of coffee. However, there is a legend that claims the first coffee beans were found by an Ethiopian goat herder by the name of Kaldi. Legend says that Kaldi had observed that his goats were eating coffee beans, and seemed to have more energy after eating them. 

He ate one himself and found it had a similar effect on him. After bringing it to the local monastery, they made a drink out of it, and so the first coffee was born. Soon after, it spread rapidly through the region and eventually through the world, renowned for its ability to increase energy and focus. 

Whether the legend is true or not, it is a fun and interesting idea as to how this now extremely popular drink got its start. 

Jamestown

As far as how coffee first got to America, it is rumored that some did show up with the original Jamestown settlers, who arrived in the Americas and established their settlement in 1607. It’s said that they didn’t like coffee very much though, and so it did not become popular, as the settlers preferred tea. 

The Boston Tea Party

The first popularization of coffee in the Americas actually came with the Boston Tea Party in 1776. King George III put a heavy tax on tea in 1773 in response to the British East India Company’s increasing debt.

The English maintained their right to tax the colonies, and so used this power to get some money in order to bail out the powerful East India Company as well as the British crown, both of which were in debt. 

The colonists were against the tax, however, as they felt that without representation in Parliament, it was unfair to tax them so heavily. In response, they put on the Boston Tea Party, wherein many colonists (dressed as Native Americans) dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston harbor as an act of defiance against the crown and their taxes. 

After this, a boycott on tea began. This allowed coffee, the alternative option, to become an extremely popular drink among the colonists. 

Did the Founding Fathers drink coffee?

Yes, many of the founding fathers did drink coffee. Thomas Jefferson is even quoted as saying that coffee is “the favorite drink of the civilized world.” 

John Adams, who was a heavy drinker of tea, switched to coffee after the Boston tea party made drinking tea an unpatriotic gesture. 

Benjamin Franklin was actually a fan of coffee before it became popular in the U.S., and is rumored to have spent plenty of times in coffee shops before the Boston tea party. 

In short, yes. Whether due to the Boston tea party or otherwise, plenty of founding fathers ended up being fans of what is now one of the most popular drinks all across America. 

Did the first colonists drink coffee?

As mentioned above, the first colonists in America did have access to coffee, so they probably did drink it a little bit. That being said, it was not popular among them and would remain unpopular until the mid 18th century. 

Who drank coffee first?

The first documented cases of people drinking coffee came from Arabia in the mid 15th century, in Ahmed al-Ghaffar in Yemen. 

When did coffee become popular in the U.S.?

After the Boston tea party, coffee’s popularity did increase. However, it did not become the staple of American culture we know it as today until a little bit later. Coffee’s influence spread slowly but surely though, and throughout the 19th century would become more and more popular as it surpassed tea as the primary beverage used to give energy.

By the 1920s, coffee was one of if not the most popular drink in America. Much of this is due to the prohibition on alcohol that had come about at around the same time. Americans began ordering coffee with every meal, and it quickly became a staple of the culture. 

Is coffee the same today as it was when it first came to America?

Although there are plenty of fancy ways to drink coffee, pure black coffee is pretty much the same as it’s always been. After all, there are only so many ways you can grind up coffee beans and run water through them. That being said, coffee making is an artisanal science, and it has progressed plenty, though many like to stick to its original roots as well.