Coffee: Fuel for the American Revolution
A consequential act of defiance secured tea’s place as perhaps the most iconic beverage of America’s colonial era. The Boston Tea Party became an essential ingredient in the recipe for revolution in the following years. But tea wasn’t the only hot beverage with a prominent role in America’s fight for independence. Coffee was an important part of American culture from the start.
Europeans brought coffee with them when they came to America. The first documented example of a mortar and pestle used to grind coffee beans was on the Mayflower in 1620.
The first coffeehouse in the colonies opened in 1676 in Boston, a century before the U.S. declared independence.
While the Boston Tea Party is often cited as a turning point toward coffee, there’s little evidence to support the claim that it significantly shifted colonial drinking habits.
