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Did John Smith Introduce Coffee to America?

America is the largest coffee drinking society, yet nobody is quite sure who introduced it there.  In the early history of this country, no one laid claim to first importing coffee.  The first settlers probably thought this was insignificant to record in their journals compared to: exploring new lands, meeting the natives and of course fighting for survival.   

One theory is that Captain John Smith introduced coffee to America.  Why is this theory of interest to me?  Well, Smith was a Lincolnshire lad; born in Willoughby (near Alford) and educated in Louth.  It would be great to think that someone from Lincolnshire had such an influence on the world of coffee (not that I’m putting down Smith’s other achievements).

I watched enough daytime TV as a student to know that a suspect must have both a motive and an opportunity (thank you Messrs Columbo, Quincy & Petrocelli).  So did Smith have both the motive and opportunity to bring coffee to America?

Motive    

In Smith book “Travels and Adventure”, published in 1603, he wrote the following about the Turks:

“Their best drink is coffa of a graine they call coava”

So Smith not only had knowledge of coffee he also liked it.

You could argue that Smith meant that coffee was the best of what the Turks had to offer.  Smith would have been used to drinking beer: breakfast, lunch and dinner.  But as the Turks were Muslim, no beer would have been available.  So Smith might have considered coffee as simply a substitute for beer.  However, history shows that when coffee houses were introduced to England towards the end of 17th Century, most men (sorry women were excluded) ditched the tavern in favour of the coffee house.  Therefore, Smith probably considered coffee as a real alternative to beer.

When Smith and his fellow settlers finally arrived in Virginia, in 1607, they were in for a pretty tough time (not that four months spent crossing the Atlantic in three tiny wooden boats was a piece of cake).  Of the 104 original settlers only 38 survived beyond a year.  Where does coffee come into play?  Well, back then coffee was considered a medicine, a miracle cure.  What better way to survive the harsh Virginia winter than a hot coffee in your belly.  The Sioux (who later on in history adopted coffee) actually called it kazuta sapa: black medicine. 

Opportunity

So Smith had the motive to introduce coffee: it was something he enjoyed and he believed it could save lives.  But even if he wanted to bring coffee to America, would he of been able to? 

As a member of the Jamestown council (and at one stage leader), Smith would have had some influence over what supplies should be brought over from England.  So conceivably he could have asked for coffee.  But, as Smith was ahead of his time, and coffee wasn’t widely available in England until after 1650, he was unlikely to receive any.

Even though, the English owned East India Company started trading coffee as early as 1607, it’s believed that this coffee was brought from Arabia to sell on in Persia and India.   It wasn’t till later on in the century, after demand grew, that they became the biggest importer of coffee to England.

The Verdict    

As Smith’s stay in Virginia was short lived (he had to return to England in 1909 after being accidently injured) it’s unlikely that Smith himself introduced coffee.  Supplies from England simply weren’t available. Even if suppliers of coffee were scarcely available, they wouldn’t be wasted on these lowly settlers.  The settlers wouldn’t have been considered of much value back in England until after 1612, when John Rolfe introduced tobacco from the Caribbean (tobacco was a valuable commodity).

So even though Smith hadn’t managed it; as a strong and charismatic leader, I can always hope that he inspired a fellow settler (or their descendant) to demand coffee’s export to America.

About the Author

James Grierson is the owner of Galla Coffee - retailer of coffee makers and other accessories.

To view the original article in its full context please visit: Did John Smith Introduce Coffee to America?

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