“What if I brewed up some Bohea…in your
coffeepot? Are you brave enough to try?”
Anna smirked. “I am desperate enough to
try.”
Excerpt from Fields
of the Fatherless (soon to be
released)
Betsy
and her sister-in-law, Anna, took a huge risk brewing up the Chinese black tea
called Bohea (bu-ee). It was strictly forbidden in the colony of Massachusetts
in 1775—so much so that neighborhood comitteemen were assignd to monitor
private households to ensure that only coffee or herbal teas were served.
Anyone
caught drinking the banned brew of tea taxed by England would be deemed a Tory.
But drinking coffee was akin to declaring independence for America. Coffee was
the preferred drink of the patriotic cause although many still desired the
black or green tea that they had been accustomed to. Some, like Anna, used
black tea like Bohea for headaches, so it was a real sacrifice to make the
change. And some just liked the milder taste of tea.
But
preferences aside, the popularity of coffee in America soared after the Boston
Tea Party.
In
fact, the party itself was planned and the details plotted out in a coffee
house called The Green Dragon. It was in December of 1773 that over one hundred
enraged patriots tossed cases of tea overboard from three ships into the murky
Boston harbor. The tea boycott had begun.
But
while coffee was suddenly in high demand, it had actually arrived in the
colonies in the late 17th century, at the same time as tea.
Coffee
originated in the Arab countries but live plants were transported to
greenhouses in Holland in 1616. From there, the Dutch began to grow this
popular bean in India and Java (now called Indonesia). Within a few years, the
Dutch were the main suppliers of coffee to Europe.
The
Holland connection brings up another interesting tidbit from my research. A
mortar and pestle for “braying” coffee beans into powder was brought over on
the Mayflower in 1620 by passengers William and Susanna White. The emigrants
onboard the Mayflower had resided in Holland for a time before leaving for the
New World. Thus, the first coffee may have arrived with the first colonists
arriving at Plymouth, although there was no record of the beans actually
carried as cargo onboard.
 |
| English coffeepot, Staffordshire transferware |
According
to Dennis Picard, historian at Storrowton Village Museum in West Springfield, Massachusetts, “coffee was shipped
and purchased green, and the homeowner had to roast each batch either in a
spider (a frying pan with legs) or a metal drum shaped roaster.” It was then
ground with a mortar and pestle.
Crank
coffee grinders began to be used in homes in the early part of the 19th
century.
The
first literary reference to coffee consumption in North America is from 1668,
when coffee houses were established in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and other
cities. Often these coffee houses also served other beverages, such as tea, ale
and cider.
A mention of coffee and tea is found in Shirley Glubock’s Home and Child Life in Colonial
Days:
“In 1670, a Boston woman was licensed
to sell coffee and chocolate, and soon coffee houses were established there.
Some did not know how to cook coffee any more than tea, but boiled the whole
coffee beans in water, ate them, and drank the liquid; and naturally this was
not very good either to eat or drink.
At the time of the Stamp Act, when
patriotic Americans threw the tea into Boston Harbor, Americans were just as
great tea drinkers as the English. Coffee-drinking, first acquired in the
Revolution, has also descended from generation to generation, and we now drink
more coffee than tea. This is one of the differences in our daily life caused
by the Revolution.”
 |
| Brittania ware Coffeepot |
Just
one of the many differences, indeed.
My
favorite excerpt about coffee and the American Revolution was an incident
recorded by Abigail Adams in 1778, and quoted in Revolutionary Mothers by
Carol Berkin:
“An eminent, wealthy, stingy merchant
(also a bachelor) had a hogshead of coffee in his store, which he refused to
sell…under six shillings per pound. A number of females, some say a hundred,
some say more, assembled with a cart and trunks, marched down to the Warehouse
and demanded the keys which he refused to deliver. Upon which one
of them seized him by his neck and
tossed him into the cart. Upon his finding no quarter, he delivered the keys
when they tipped up the cart and discharged him; then opened the Warehouse,
hoisted out the coffee themselves, put it into the trunks and drove off…a large
concourse of men stood amazed silent spectators.”
I
suppose the moral of that tale is, never stand between a woman and her
coffee—especially during a Revolution!
