What Happened to Coffee in America?
What Happened to Coffee in America?
In 1920s, prohibition goes into effect in the United States and coffee sales “skyrocketed.” By 1940 the U.S. was importing 70 percent of the world coffee crop. Despite this, Brazil is producing more coffee than ever and has a surplus. The Nestle Company invents freeze-dried coffee and names it Nescafe. They introduce it in Switzerland. Not much later Nescafe is introduced to the U.S.
Vacuum coffee makers were introduced around the 1920s. They use steam both to brew coffee and to keep it out of the water chamber. These machines make sure that the coffee doesn’t get too hot as it brews, meaning bitterness is reduced. At the end of the brewing process, the glass globe on top of the machine was removed so the coffee could be served. Today, most of these pots are available as stovetop models; however, a few electric versions are still around. The first espresso machine reached the USA in 1927; it was installed in Regio’s Restaurant in New York City. Different than the very early inventions, espresso had never been brewed directly with steam. Steam pressure was used merely as the vehicle to pass the heated water through packed finely ground coffee at a high pressure to extract the beverage.
In 1930, Farberware introduces a first, the Farberware electric percolator. Both of these methods produced strong coffee, yet each created a different taste of coffee. What happens next to coffee? You’ll see that tomorrow.