Coffee

Modern History of Coffee

By Carodmd

  • 1900

    Hills Bros. starts to pack roast coffee

  • 1901

    Japanese-American chemist Satori Kato of Chicago invents the first soluble instant coffee.

  • 1903

    “Sanka” was invented by the researchers of the German coffee importer Ludwig Roselius.

  • 1906

    The first mass-produced instant coffee was invented by George Constant Washington, an English chemist living in Guatemala.

  • 1920

    As the Prohibition starts in the United States, coffee sales rise.

  • 1938

    Nestle company invented freeze-dried coffee as a method for Brazil to keep its coffee surpluses.

  • 1940

    The US imports 70 percent of the world coffee crop.

  • 1942

    During W.W.II, American soldiers get instant Maxwell House coffee in their ration kits while at the home front uncontrolled hoarding coerced government to ration coffee.

  • 1946

    In Italy, Achilles Gaggia perfects his espresso machine.

  • 1971

    Starbucks opens its first store in Seattle's Pike Place public market.

  • 2008

    Coffee is the world’s most popular beverage. More than 500 billion cups are consumed each year. It is one of the world’s most traded commodities, second in value only to crude oil.