Monthly Archives: February 2010

Over 1,000 years ago, an Ethiopian tribe began using coffee beans mixed with animal fat to make energy boosting snacks. Soon after, Arab traders began to export these small, red Ethiopian beans back to their homelands. The drink was soon boiled, creating a bitter beverage which it was said could “prevent sleepiness.”

By the 15th century, coffee began to be viewed as a necessity. Turkish law stated that a woman could divorce her husband for the sole reason that he did not provide her with enough coffee. A corrupt government official attempted to ban coffee in order to assert his power, and was later killed for the act. People all over the known world were becoming coffee crazy.

By the 1600′s, coffee reached Italy, where it became a smashing success. Over the next 50 years, coffee grew in popularity among Western nations, spreading to England, America and France.

Coffee became the unofficial drink of America in 1773, following the Boston Tea Party and the patriotic duty to avoid imported tea (the only kind available in the colonies at the time). One hundred years later, Maxwell House becomes the first available commercial blend of coffee.

At the turn of the last century, instant coffee became available and made coffee a drink for not only those sitting in coffee houses, but for those eating breakfast at home, working late at night or anywhere else hot water was available. When the prohibition went into effect in 1920, coffee sales hit a historic peak. It was a drink everyone could enjoy, even when most other enjoyable drinks were off the market.

In 1971, Starbucks opened their first store in Seattle. Coffee had become an American tradition. As technology changed and consumers were looking for a more richly blended alternative to instant coffee powders, single serving coffee emerged as a new innovation.

Today, single serving coffee, such as the Keurig K-Cup Brewer, is increasingly becoming the choice coffee brewing system for home and office. It makes freshly brewed coffee available with just the push of a button.

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) has suspended a driver for regularly holding up his bus route every evening in order to stop for a cup of coffee and a donut. He is under investigation by the TTC following the frustration of a regular rider of the Bathurst Blue Night line. The rider, who complains that the driver completed this coffee break ritual every day for two weeks, eventually took a video of the driver leaving the bus unattended and spending nearly 7 minutes buying a cup of coffee and a donut. The video was then posted to YouTube and the TCC has promised to investigate the incidents and has suspended the driver until further notice.

For the riders of the Bathurst Blue Night line, this was an inconvenience, but for the driver, coffee was an absolute necessity. We can’t say that we don’t understand his need for a steaming cup of coffee, but professional priorities ought to have some weight. How far “off route” have you gone for a cup of coffee?