Coffee Shop Feasibility

The Drink of reason, coffee, seems to not have changed much culturally to this day, as when it is brought to the table over 250 years ago (pg. 170). Coffee remains to be the drink over which people meet

Coffee had lots of demand, but little supply. The country that could grow and export the most coffee had a substantial economic advantage over other countries in terms of commerce.

The Europeans got coffee from the Arabs in the 17th century when European explorers visited Islamic lands and brought the drink back with them. At first, there was a controversy whether it should be prohibited or not due

A) Coffee originated in Yemen, Arabia where it was viewed as a religious beverage. Over time it spread to Mecca and Cairo, where it became a recreational drink to be drunk in a social manner in large coffee houses. It also became a popular substitute for alcohol, which was banned under Islam. Europeans traveling in the Middle East came upon coffee and coffeehouses and commented on their popularity. But it wasn’t until 1652, when an Armenian servant named Pasqua Rosee opened the first coffee house in London, that coffee transformed from a little known novelty into a wide spread phenomenon. When, in 1658, Cromwell died and public opinion swung in the favor of a new monarchy, coffee houses became central in political debates and commercial business. The trend quickly caught on and coffee houses became fashionable throughout Europe.

sailors. The British sailors were given grog, a spirit mixed with lime juice. This drink contained vitamin

Coffee quickly became the drink of intellect and industry being known to sharpen the mind. Taverns were replaced with a more sophisticated meeting place, the coffeehouse. These “led to the establishment of scientific societies and financial institutions, the founding of newspapers, and provided fertile ground for revolutionary thought.” [4]

Distilled spirits were created by Arab chemists by distilling wine and using the residue as medicine.

The caffeine in coffee become an ethical increase over alcohol and have become a fashionable social beverage. It was interesting to see how it started off as this very exotic drink only for the upper class and then turned into what it is now. Coffee is a very fashionable drink that does not cost much that many have led their days with in today’s society.

By 1700 England becomes the largest consumer of coffee. Coffee becomes known as the drink of commerce because the merchant class welcomed the drink without any hesitation.

The earliest consumption of coffee is believed to have been by the Sufi Muslims around mocha in Yemen. The coffee beans were harvested and brewed just like the way they are prepared today. From this area, it spread across the Middle East, Europe and finally to North Africa by the 16th century. (Pendergrast,

1. Coffee originated in Europe by the expansion of “Age of Exploration” opening new ideas with criticism, tolerance, and freedom of thought.

The documentary Black Gold, is about the world coffee market and an Ethiopian fair trade cooperative. Ethiopia being the birthplace of coffee is the largest producer of coffee in the world, producing some of the highest quality of coffee beans in the world, like Harar, Yuban and Sidamo types of coffee. The significant problems pointed out in this documentary show what is wrong in the global trading system. Mainly, while most of us continue have our lattes and specialty coffees, the amount paid to the Ethiopian coffee farmers is so low that a lot of them have been forced to chop down some of their coffee fields and rely on other crops to help them survive. The Ethiopian people are malnourished; they have no clean water, no healthcare, and no schools for their families. As quoted in the film, “They are living hand to mouth”.

Coffee has played a major role in the lives of many people around the world. “Yet, poetic as its taste may be, coffee’s history is rife with controversy and politics…[becoming a] creator of revolutionary sedition in Arab countries and in Europe” (Pendergrast xvi). After reading Uncommon Grounds, it is apparent that the history of coffee is intertwined with the aspects of the globalization process, the role of Multi-National Corporations, and global economic issues.

There’s not clear information about how coffee arrived in Colombia. The historic archive says that the Jesuits brought the seeds around 1730. The tradition says that the seeds arrived threw the east of the country, and the harvest where registries in Giron, Santander and Muzo, Boyacá. In 1835 the first commercial production produced 2560 bags and they were exported from Cucuta’s custom. Then the coffee extended to the center and west of the country in the departments of Cundinamarca, Antioquia and the zone of old Caldas. The consolidation of coffee as a product for exportation was from the second half of XIX century. The great expansion of the world economy in that period made that the Colombian peasants find an attractive opportunities in the International market. Between the end of 70s of the XIX century and the start of the XX century the annual production of coffee passed from 60.000 bags to 600.000 bags, this was made in the main big farms of the departments of Santander and Cundinamarca, having at the end of XIX century, 80 percent of the total coffee national production. There was a decline in the international prices in the first years of the XX century; this made a big change in the Colombian coffee cultivation. It can be concluded that in the period between

The film highlights the fact that coffee is the most valued word commodity, second to oil. The beginning of the film shows the process in which coffee is made- from bean harvesting by workers in Ethiopia who make next to nothing, through several intermediated stages, and into the market. Although we spend countless amounts of money on coffee without thinking twice, the price that coffee farmers who produce this commodity are getting paid, is disgustingly low. Some of them have even been forced to walk away from their fields. There is no better place to see this