A History of Coffee

Surrogates: Anything but the coffee

What happens when coffee disappears?
 
This is not a thought experiment! It’s happened many times in history: War, blockades, tariffs, ideology, health panics, sanctions, supply shocks. 
 
When coffee is not around, people still need something warm, comforting, and familiar. And throughout history, people have reached for coffee surrogates: roasted plants and grains engineered to look like coffee…but do they actually taste like coffee? 
 
In this episode, Jonathan and James time-travel by taste testing a truly alarming number of coffee substitutes. 
 
Spoiler: you will hear a lot of spitting! 
 
Which leads to the bigger question: can anything actually replace coffee—or will we always come crawling back?
 
 
Please spread the word about A History of Coffee!
 
Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast)  and Jonathan (@coffeehistoryjm) - and tag us in an Instagram story. 
 
Write a review on Apple Podcasts
 
Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify
 
 
This free educational content for the coffee community was made possible by Mahlkönig, manufacturers of world-leading coffee grinders for 100 years for your home and cafe. 
 
 
Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’
 
Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories
 
Read James’ article on the history of decaf technology in Standart
 
See Colin Smith’s amazing coffee museum at Smith’s Coffee in Hemel Hempstead, UK
 
Get nerdy about the intersection of AI and the occult on Karin’s Subtack, Mercurial Minutes
 
 
Do your own surrogate taste test!
 
Postum
Atomo
Orzo
Fig
Dandelion root
Dateseed
Acorn
Chickpea
Chicory Root
Camp Coffee
 
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out.What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

Mother Coffee: The history and heritage of Ethiopia's wild coffee forests

Most coffee is grown on vast plantations using machines, pesticides and fertilisers. 
 
But in Ethiopia, coffee grows wild in humid forests surrounded by birds. 
 
And that wild coffee matters more than most of us realise. It is the genetic ‘library’ we can turn to find new varieties to help us keep coffee thriving in the face of climate change. 
 
But the communities who live alongside them and have safeguarded this genetic treasure often don’t earn enough from coffee to make preservation the obvious economic choice.
 
Could a great story be the answer to earn higher premiums for these communities? Could that story be that all the coffee we drink today can actually be traced back to a single “mother tree” in Ethiopia? 
 
This episode is about the history of coffee in Ethiopia, how far back the evidence goes, what counts as evidence, and what we should celebrate (and pay for) when we buy “wild” Ethiopian coffee today.
 
 
Please spread the word about A History of Coffee!
 
Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast)  and Jonathan (@coffeehistoryjm) - and tag us in an Instagram story. 
 
Write a review on Apple Podcasts 
 
Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify
 
 
This free educational content for the coffee community was made possible by Mahlkönig, manufacturers of world-leading coffee grinders for 100 years for your home and cafe. 
 
Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ 
 
Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories
 
Discover how James makes these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to his Substack newsletter
 
Enjoy James’ Standart article about Avicenna and the earliest (supposed) written reference to coffee
 
Read the scientific paper pinpointing where wild coffee forests are in Ethiopia 
 
Follow Solomon Tselele's work through his Facebook page
 
Learn more about the Ethiopian coffee ceremony on the Adventures in Coffee podcast
 
Series 3 of A History of Coffee is a collaboration between documentary maker James Harper of the Filter Stories coffee podcast and Jonathan Morris, Professor of History and author of ‘Coffee: A Global History’. 
 
Ethiopian forest sounds curtesy of George Vlad. Hear more nature sounds here.
 
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out.What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

We Built This City…On Coffee: Hamburg and the making of Europe's coffee trade

On a long walk through Hamburg, somewhere between the fish markets and giant cranes, you might stumble a giant bronze coffee bean looks like its crash landed from space. 
 
But this giant coffee bean represents a staggering fact: one in every three cups of coffee drunk in Europe has passed through Hamburg. 
 
In the first half of this episode, we explore the many profound ways coffee shaped one of Europe’s most important cities. 
 
But then the story flips because, once coffee changed Hamburg, Hamburg began to change coffee.
 
Series 3 of A History of Coffee is a collaboration between documentary maker James Harper of the Filter Stories coffee podcast and Jonathan Morris, Professor of History and author of ‘Coffee: A Global History’. 
 
 
Please spread the word about A History of Coffee!
 
Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast)  and Jonathan (@coffeehistoryjm) - and tag us in an Instagram story. 
 
Write a review on Apple Podcasts 
 
Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify
 
This free educational content for the coffee community was made possible by Mahlkönig, manufacturers of world-leading coffee grinders for 100 years for your home and cafe. 
 
Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ (https://amzn.to/3dihAfU)
 
Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories
 
Pick up a copy of Margrit Schulte Beerbühl’s book, Kaffee Ist Fertig! 
 
Read James’ article on Frederick the Great’s attempt to ban coffee in Standart
 
 
Go on your own Hamburg coffee tour!
 
Giant bean 
Speicherstadt Museum 
Burg Coffee Museum in the Speicherstadt
Becking, 100 year old coffee roasters
1950s Rebuilt Coffee Exchange - and an Instagram post coming on @filterstoriespodcast
 
 
Go deeper into the story of Mahlkönig’s grinders
 
Early EKs - post coming on @filterstoriespodcast
DK (aka Donkey Kong Dreiphasen Kaffeemühle)
Grind-by-Sync espresso grinders
EK Omnia
Guatemala
Matt Perger WBC routine demonstrating the EK
Filter Stories episode on grinding curves
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out.What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

Introducing: Series Three of A History of Coffee

We’re back with more stories about the tiny psychoactive seed that changed the world and continues to shape our lives today.
Is it possible to follow the story not just to Ethiopia, not just to a single town, but all the way back to one tree?
We’ll uncover the uncomfortable history of Guatemala — a story about who inherited the rich volcanic soil, and who was forced to work it.
We explore what happens when our worst nightmare comes true: coffee disappears from the shelves. What did people brew instead? Was any of it actually drinkable?
And we tell the story of how coffee can shape the massive port city of Hamburg, and how Hamburg then went on to shape the global coffee world.
If we want to make coffee a more equitable industry that’s also kinder to the environment, a place to start is understanding the stories and systems that put the coffee into your cup this morning.
 
Press the ‘Subscribe’ button so you don’t miss future episodes.A History of Coffee is a collaboration between documentary maker James Harper of the Filter Stories coffee podcast and Jonathan Morris, Professor of History and author of ‘Coffee: A Global History’. Follow us on Instagram! Jonathan Morris @coffeehistoryjm and James Harper @filterstoriespodcast.This free educational content was made possible with the support of Mahlkönig, manufacturers of world-class grinders for 100 years. Subscribe to The Science of Coffee podcast
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out.What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

4) Just Friends? America’s love affair with coffee

America is coffee-obsessed. From Central Perk’s red couch being the centre of major plot twists in Friends to the fact the average American drank more than two cups a day.And the conventional explanation is pretty straightforward: an English colonist introduces coffee to Jamestown in 1607. 150 years later Americans rebel against the British by throwing tea chests into Boston harbour and drinking coffee becomes their patriotic duty. Oh, and of course who won the civil war? The side that had the coffee. But, actually, the truth is much more surprising, and reveals a much more counter-intuitive story of America. In this final episode of Series Two of A History of Coffee, we offer you a story of America through the lens of a black drink, another black drink, a third black drink and perhaps even a fourth. A History of Coffee is a collaboration between documentary maker James Harper of the Filter Stories coffee podcast and Jonathan Morris, Professor of History and author of ‘Coffee: A Global History’. Don't miss future episodes by pressing the 'Subscribe' or 'Follow' button in your podcast player.-----------Please spread the word about A History of Coffee!Follow us on Instagram - Jonathan (@coffeehistoryjm) and James (@filterstoriespodcast) - and tag us in an Instagram story. Write a review on Apple Podcasts (http://apple.co/3jY42aJ)Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3K2h4RQ)This free educational content for the coffee community was made possible by Rancilio, manufacturers of professional Italian espresso machines for your home and coffee bar for almost 100 years (https://bit.ly/3U3oLMz)Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ (https://amzn.to/3dihAfU)Listen to other coffee documentaries on James’ Filter Stories podcast (https://bit.ly/3ajoT5e)Download all episodes of this second series right now by subscribing to the ‘A History of Coffee’ podcast channel (http://bit.ly/2NArChO)Learn how Brazil massively expanded output in episode three of the first series of A History of Coffee: Coffee Catches Fire (https://bit.ly/2NArChO)Brew up some Yaupon Holly! (https://bit.ly/40R6IuY)Discover Deb Hunter's All Things Tudor podcast (https://bit.ly/3L5OZet)Subscribe to The Science of Coffee podcast
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out.What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

3) Espresso Lungo: The slow road to Italy’s democratic espresso culture

One morning back in the ‘80s, Howard Schultz walks out of his Milan hotel, stumbles into an espresso bar, and fundamentally changes coffee history. He discovered (and then popularises) the iconic, timeless Italian coffee experience: Rich thick coffee, an affordable price and great theatre. But this Italian ritual is surprisingly young, so young that Howard Schultz was in school while some of it was being developed!In this third episode of Series Two of A History of Coffee, we show you why for most of Italy’s history, coffee was thin, expensive, dull to watch…and that’s if you were lucky enough to even be drinking the real stuff at all!A History of Coffee is a collaboration between documentary maker James Harper of the Filter Stories coffee podcast and Jonathan Morris, Professor of History and author of ‘Coffee: A Global History’. -----------Don't miss future episodes by pressing the 'Subscribe' or 'Follow' button in your podcast playerPlease spread the word about A History of Coffee!Follow us on Instagram - Jonathan (@coffeehistoryjm) and James (@filterstoriespodcast) - and tag us in an Instagram story. Write a review on Apple Podcasts (http://apple.co/3jY42aJ)Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3K2h4RQ)This free educational content for the coffee community was made possible by Rancilio, manufacturers of professional Italian espresso machines for your home and coffee bar for almost 100 years (https://bit.ly/3U3oLMz)Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ (https://amzn.to/3dihAfU)Listen to other coffee documentaries on James’ Filter Stories podcast (https://bit.ly/3ajoT5e)Download all episodes of this second series right now by subscribing to the ‘A History of Coffee’ podcast channel (http://bit.ly/2NArChO)Go deeper into the story of espresso machines: James' science podcast about Espresso Machine Technology Neapolitan coffee maker (https://bit.ly/3zZCivl)Espresso at 1906 World’s Fair in Milan (https://bit.ly/3MOX7kQ)Rancilio's Museum, Officina Rancilio 1926 (https://bit.ly/3Q7vqTI)"La Cornuta" espresso machine (https://bit.ly/41uBryd)Rancilio's Berlin Showroom, the BER Rancilio Station (https://bit.ly/3mD0lNA)Subscribe to The Science of Coffee podcast
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out.What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

2) A Lasting Stain: Haiti, Colonialism and Coffee

Haiti was once the biggest, most profitable coffee growing region in the world. But today Haiti is one of the world’s poorest nations where you can’t get a bag of Haitian beans delivered to Berlin in a week for love nor money. In this second episode of Series Two of A History of Coffee, we show you how colonialism and racism dragged Haiti into poverty, and the role of coffee at the centre of it.Be warned: this episode contains graphic descriptions of violence. A History of Coffee is a collaboration between documentary maker James Harper of the Filter Stories coffee podcast and Jonathan Morris, Professor of History and author of ‘Coffee: A Global History’. -----------Don't miss future episodes by pressing the 'Subscribe' or 'Follow' button in your podcast playerPlease spread the word about A History of Coffee!Follow us on Instagram - Jonathan (@coffeehistoryjm) and James (@filterstoriespodcast) - and tag us in an Instagram story. Write a review on Apple Podcasts (http://apple.co/3jY42aJ)Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3K2h4RQ)This free educational content for the coffee community was made possible by Rancilio, manufacturers of professional Italian espresso machines for your home and coffee bar for almost 100 years (https://bit.ly/3U3oLMz)Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ (https://amzn.to/3dihAfU)Listen to other coffee documentaries on James’ Filter Stories podcast (https://bit.ly/3ajoT5e)Download all episodes of this second series right now by subscribing to the ‘A History of Coffee’ podcast channel (http://bit.ly/2NArChO)Subscribe to The Science of Coffee podcast
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out.What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

1) It’s Just Coffee? How coffee houses changed the world

A coffee shop is a lot more than just a place to drink coffee. The seats and sofas encourage you to invite a friend, and chat.And chatting is powerful: ideas that emerge from these caffeine-fuelled conversations give birth to modern finance and even the founding of great artistic and scientific institutions.Meanwhile, other ideas threaten those in power, and have led to many attempts to ban coffeeshops (and even coffee itself!) these last 500 years.In the first episode of Series Two of A History of Coffee, we show you how the coffee shop changed the world, and we ask whether it still has what it takes to upend society.A History of Coffee is a collaboration between documentary maker James Harper of the Filter Stories coffee podcast and Jonathan Morris, Professor of History and author of ‘Coffee: A Global History’. -----------Don't miss future episodes by pressing the 'Subscribe' or 'Follow' button in your podcast playerPlease spread the word about A History of Coffee!Follow us on Instagram - Jonathan (@coffeehistoryjm) and James (@filterstoriespodcast) - and tag us in an Instagram story. Write a review on Apple Podcasts (http://apple.co/3jY42aJ)Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3K2h4RQ)This free educational content for the coffee community was made possible by Rancilio, manufacturers of professional Italian espresso machines for your home and coffee bar for almost 100 years (https://bit.ly/3U3oLMz)Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ (https://amzn.to/3dihAfU)Listen to other coffee documentaries on James’ Filter Stories podcast (https://bit.ly/3ajoT5e)Download all episodes of this second series right now by subscribing to the ‘A History of Coffee’ podcast channel (http://bit.ly/2NArChO)Subscribe to The Science of Coffee podcast
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out.What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

Introducing: Series Two of A History of Coffee

We're back with more stories about the tiny psychoactive seed that changed the world and continues to shape our lives today.In Series Two, we reveal how the invention of the coffee shop revolutionised societies, why colonialism, racism and coffee have kept once prosperous Haiti poor today, how Italy's revered espresso culture was created, and we debunk many myths around America's supposed love affair with coffee.If we want to make coffee a more equitable industry that’s also kinder to the environment, a place to start is understanding the stories and systems that put the coffee into your cup this morning.Press the ‘Subscribe’ button so you don’t miss future episodes.A History of Coffee is a collaboration between documentary maker James Harper of the Filter Stories coffee podcast and Jonathan Morris, Professor of History and author of ‘Coffee: A Global History’. Follow us on Instagram! Jonathan Morris @coffeehistoryjm and James Harper @filterstoriespodcast.This free educational content was made possible with the support of Rancilio, manufacturers of professional Italian espresso machines for almost 100 years. Join us live at the London Coffee Festival 2023! We have three time slots for you to choose from: Saturday, 22 April, 11:00-11:30 and 14:30-15:00, and Sunday, 23 April,14:30-15:00. Subscribe to The Science of Coffee podcast
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out.What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

BONUS: Coffee’s Ticking Time Bomb

We have an exciting announcement....AND, a story about Sri Lanka and coffee history we think you're really going to like. Sri Lankan coffee has delicious notes of chocolate and caramel. But it’s basically impossible to find, and we’re going to bet you’ve never drank it. But that's really odd, because Sri Lanka has the perfect climate to grow coffee, and was once one of the biggest coffee growing countries in the world. But Sri Lanka was the victim of an ecological ticking time bomb. And this bomb is still ticking, and is going to explode again. In this episode of Adventures in Coffee, producer James Harper takes co-hosts Scott and Jools on an adventure back in time, across Ethiopia, Yemen, Sri Lanka to trace the origins of this ticking bomb, and what it’s going to take to defuse it. —Subscribe to Adventures in Coffee here: https://bit.ly/300V4jSListen to Jonathan's guest appearance on negative coffee advertising here: https://bit.ly/3uOXYc0Read Stuart McCook’s excellent book, Coffee Is Not Forever: https://bit.ly/3320robListen to James’ stories about El Salvador on his Filter Stories channel: https://spoti.fi/3Lcnuhg Help other people find the show by leaving a rating on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3JYduHY Help others find the show by creating a screengrab of this episode on your podcast player and sharing it on your Instagram stories. Tag us and we’ll reshare it!Scott Bentley / Caffeine Magazine: https://bit.ly/3oijQ91Jools Walker / Lady Velo: http://bit.ly/39VRGewJames Harper / Filter Stories: https://bit.ly/2Mlkk0ORead Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ here: https://amzn.to/3dihAfUA massive thanks to Lawrence Goldberg of Hansa Coffee, Ajantha Palihawadana, Professor Stuart McCook and Harm van Oudenhoven.Subscribe to The Science of Coffee podcast
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out.What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.