Coffee stories with an extra shot of history and science
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. Listen to all the episodes at once on the A History of Coffee podcast channel.
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.
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 …
One morning back in the ‘80s, Howard Schultz walks out of his Milan hotel, stumbles into an espresso bar, and fundamentally changes coffee history.
…
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 …
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 …
Imagine you’ve got a cup of coffee in front of you. You haven’t tasted it yet. You therefore don’t know what it tastes like, right?
Wrong. Some scientists argue that you actually do know …
When was the last time you picked up a cappuccino with a mountain of foam perched on top? Maybe these are the cappuccinos you make every morning at home.
I personally really, really dislike …
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