What Is Coffee? A Sociological Perspective

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.

The fictional story “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere,” by American author ZZ Packer, is about an African American college student that encounters many behavioral issues throughout her freshman year at Yale University. The main character of the story, Dina, is an insecure, immature, and selfish young adult who has gone through tough moments in her life. Dina is the narrator of the story; it is told through her eyes. After Dina mother’s death, her attitude gets worse and she tries to be isolated from everyone as much as she can. During Yale orientation, Dina introduced herself violently to the class, the dean of the college gets worried about her behavior, and she is assigned to attend counseling sessions with a psychologist. Dina then meets one of her poetry classmates accidently; after Heidi knocks at Dina’s door, they share time together, and become good friends. The main character sometimes may appear aggressive and uncaring do to the fact that she is dealing with self-identity problems. In the end, she suddenly appears upset and starts making many mistakes that end up costing her friendship. After losing the only friend she has, she wishes to go back and fix the mistakes she made.

For a more than half of clan, the fine they free their eyes, they are already rational about grabbing a cup of java. More than 83 percent of Americans drink coffee quotidian, with most consuming at least 2 to 3 topping-bouts a day. Whether you prepare by fermentation it at domicile or clutch some at a topical eatery, coffee seems to have become a mainstay in most people's quotidian life. So what is the foot streak when it comes to whether coffee is deemed of good health or not? With more than 1.5 billion topping-bout being served up quotidian, one can only trust it is a of good health choice.

The “Coffee Wars – The Big Three: Starbucks, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts” article focuses on the company analysis of the Starbucks brand and how its main competitors, McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts, has affected their brand and driven competition higher. Even though there are many companies trying to enter the specialty coffee market, these three companies own the majority of the market share. With Starbucks’ top quality and above average prices they hold a different market than the fast coffee/food market of Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks; yet the competitive moves Dunkin’ Donuts has made over the years in order to compete with Starbucks and surpass McDonald’s has driven competition up between all three companies. The competition has stiffened ever more in the past ten years due to the changing economy. This led to “the big three” to come up with different techniques to gain competitive advantage over the other. Although the competition between these companies is to gain most of the market share, consumers are still loyal to a certain brand; this makes it difficult to gain each other’s clientele. McDonald’s continues to appeal to customers who want value and speed, Dunkin’ Donuts focuses on the middle-class, while Starbucks a customer who desires a higher quality product along with being recognized for using the brand.

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,

Coffee is a beverage that is globally consumed, but also a product that has different values in different parts of the world. The role coffee plays in society differs around the world, from the farmers who grew the crops to the people who constantly consume them. Social theoretical perspectives are capable of showing the different roles coffee has in different societies. Symbolic interactionism, functionalism, and Marxism are three theories which show coffee’s role sociologically. These theories show how coffee affects people physically, how it affects them emotionally, how it leads them to have interactions, how it connects different parts of society, and how it’s economically controlled by a select few.

A commodity is a raw material or primary agricultural product that can be bought and sold. The market treats it as equipment or nearly so with no regard to who produced it. The original producer does not make the “big” money from the good that has become a commodity demanded by consumers. A commodity’s supply and demand is part of one universal market like corn, or wheat. A stereo is something that would not be considered a commodity. Other things are important about a stereo not that it is just a stereo but what brand and quality is in consideration when purchasing a stereo. Demand for one type might be much larger than the demand for another. This is not the case with commodities; they lose differentiation across their supply base. An

There is an Ethiopian legend which says coffee was discovered by a goat herder which noticed his goats frolicking, full of energy after consuming the small red fruits from the coffee shrub. The herder tried the fruits and had a similar reaction. Before coffee became the morning beverage we know it as today it had many different forms of which it was consumed. From a wine like beverage too just eating the fruit as it was found. The Arabians started the roasted coffee phenomenon we know today way back in the 13th Century. By parching or boiling the coffee beans the Arabs were able to corner the market on coffee crops. In fact this was so affective it is believed not a single coffee plant existed outside Arabia or Africa until the 1600’s. Fertile beans were smuggled out by an Indian pilgrim aboard a string across his abdomen. This started the European coffee trade; however the Europeans couldn’t grow the plant in their home countries so they planted elsewhere. The Spanish planted in Central America, the Portuguese in Brazil and The French in the Caribbean and the Dutch (first to open a coffee estate-in 1616) in Sri Lanka.

The earliest evidence we have of coffee is during the mid-15th century in Yemen. Throughout the next century, coffee makes its way all over the Middle East to turkey, Persia and northern Africa. It is not long after that coffee eventually ends up in Europe. In 1645 the first coffee house is opened in Venice. By the 1720’s coffee has found its way to America. Coffee was not a very popular drink among the colonists until after the Boston Tea Party of 1773 when it was believed to be unpatriotic to drink tea.

Coffee, the bean we love. To many it is known as the magic elixir, brain juice, or nectar of the gods, while others see it as the devil in a cup. America is a country that is obsessed with its coffee, now more than ever before. Although coffee has spanned generations, the craze did not exist like it does today. According to anthropologist William Roseberry of UBC, coffee was on the decline in the 1960’s and hit an all time low in the 90’s with only half the country drinking about a cup a day (D’Costa). However, with coffee being the world’s most commonly traded commodity, second to crude oil, much money is at stake when people stop drinking it. Thus the coffee empire was rebuilt, coffee revamped, and redefined to suit the needs of the “me

There are many essentials that are fetishized by Americans; one of those things is coffee. It is no secret that there is a big demand for coffee with many specialty coffee shops springing up, such as Starbucks, Peet’s and Coffee Bean. Oftentimes, the consumer loses sight of where things come from and how they are produced. A key component of production is the producer. The consumer does not pay enough attention to the ethical treatment and wages of the producer. This paper discusses Karl Marx’s premise on Fetishism of Commodities and its direct relation to the production of coffee, focusing on the value of the coffee bean as well as how that directly impacts the farmer and his family.

In looking at the history of coffee through the book Uncommon Grounds, we have seen coffee move throughout the world. Coffee originated in Ethiopia and grown wildly that was discovered by a goat name Kaldi. It was first eaten as a berry, then boiled, then roasted and finally, grinded to what we now know drink today and have created new ways to drink it as well. Coffee is the second most traded commodity and is grown in the Southern Hemisphere and consumed in the Northern Hemisphere. Here in the United States, it is evident that Americans love their coffee and drink it many times throughout the day. It can be argued that the “world coffee supply would continue to grow, stimulated in large part by the seemingly bottomless American coffee cup.”

There are several legendary accounts of the origin of coffee. The history of coffee, however, goes as far as the thirteenth century. It is believed that coffee came from Ethiopia in East Africa. Later on the fourteenth century it was cultivated by Arabs. Even though it is believed that coffee has been around since the thirteenth century the earliest credible evidence of drinking coffee is in the sixteenth century in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen (National Coffee Association). Coffee was first introduced to Europe in 1573 (UK Essays). It was first mention by a German physician when it started to be introduced among other African goods. When coffee was introduced to Europe it became widely acceptable among the rich and wealthy families. Coffee

Coffee has been popularized in the Global North as it contains caffeine and consumers favour the high productivity effect from drinking

Imaging if there was no more coffee in this world, how would you feel? Nowadays, coffee becomes an important part of people’s life. People who often work overtime, they drink coffee because caffeine can make you awake; people who have to wake up early in the morning, they drink coffee because instead of making breakfast, coffee is more convenient; people drink coffee during the free time, because it also tastes good.