Our story starts in 1607, with Captain John Smith. Fresh from adventures in Turkey, Smith brought coffee beans to Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America. But unlike Europe, where coffee houses were already bustling, coffee's popularity didn't take off immediately. Tea reigned supreme for most of the 17th century.
Fast-forward to the 1700s, and coffee houses began popping up in major cities like Boston and New York. These weren't just places to grab a drink; they were hubs for social discourse, where colonists debated politics and hatched ideas that would eventually lead to the American Revolution.
Then came 1773, a pivotal year. The infamous Boston Tea Party, a protest against British taxation, sparked a patriotic shift towards coffee. Suddenly, tea, the drink of the Crown, became un-American. Coffee, on the other hand, was seen as the rebellious brew of choice.
The beverage became a symbol of American independence and patriotism, for intellectuals, politicians, and revolutionaries alike.