The flavor and freshness of coffee was at its best in America nearly a century ago when it was roasted in small batches at home. Since then coffee has suffered all sorts of indignities from being boiled beyond recognition to being freeze-dried. Coffee beans are even stored in shop bins for weeks at time, becoming stale and flavorless. Fortunately, a growing number of coffee enthusiasts are now taking back the flavor and the freshness through the art of home coffee roasting. This marks the beginning of an exciting new era in the history of coffee and coffee roasting.

The Goat Herder Legend

From the moment hot coffee was served in 1,000 AD, legends swirled around it. One of the more popular legends tells of an Ethiopian goat herder, named Kaldi, who observed his goats dancing on their hind legs.

To discover the source of their energy, Kaldi followed his goats across the fields and watched as they nibbled a coffee plant. Being curious, Kaldi took a nibble himself. And within minutes he too was dancing joyously through the fields.

A nearby monk observed in wonder and asked Kaldi what gave him such boundless energy. Kaldi shared his secret, and the next day the local monks were brewing coffee to keep themselves awake during prayer. Thus, coffee as an energizing beverage was born.

The Buzz

Early coffee drinkers reported everything from feelings of exhilaration to religious ecstasy. And soon word of this amazing beverage spread throughout the Middle East. Holy men introduced coffee into religious rituals and doctors prescribed it for a wide range of conditions.

By 1554 the first coffeehouse opened in Constantinople. But that was just the beginning. Over the next century, coffee moved west along the trade routes, eventually arriving in the United States in 1668.

The Revolutionary Beverage

At the end of the 1600s, poets, musicians, actors, and philosophers gathered in coffeehouses across Paris to discuss art, literature, and politics. Coffee decreased the consumption of alcohol and created an intellectual climate that historians say helped spawn the French Revolution.

In the United States, coffee also figured into the political landscape. John Adams and Paul Revere met at the Green Dragon Tavern and coffeehouse in Boston to kick off their own revolution, American style.

In a rebellion against British taxes, the colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor in what was called "The Boston Tea Party." This uprising instantly transformed coffee into a patriotic beverage. Coffee houses and roasting coffee at home in the family kitchen became a part of daily life.

The Mass Merchandizing of Roasted Coffee

In 1873, John Arbuckle introduced the first national brand of roasted ground coffee, called "Ariosa." People laughed at his "little" one-pound bags of coffee because they said they were "packaged like peanuts." But soon housewives chose convenience over freshness and Ariosa coffee became a household name.

Business owners also helped boost the popularity of roasted coffee when they learned their employees would work harder and longer hours when fueled by caffeine. By the beginning of the 20th century, employers supplied their workers with an ongoing supply of cheap ready roasted coffee dispensed from automatic coffee machines.

This officially marked the beginning of the American coffee break, and it signaled a change in how coffee was purchased nationwide. Along with housewives, businesses now favored the convenience of inexpensive, roasted coffee to keep the wheels of commerce humming.

Coffee Comes Full Circle

In the 1940s, coffee quality suffered another blow. During World War II, U.S. troops overseas became a prime audience for instant coffee. And the popularity of this "modern" beverage grew at home after the war.

By the 1950s, coffee producers discovered they could save millions by adding cheaper lower quality robusta coffee beans to their high-quality arabica coffee beans, especially in instant blends. The change in coffee quality occurred gradually, but over time people stopped enjoying coffee as much.

Coffee consumption peaked in 1962. And then it began a steady decline as people rejected stale, flavorless beans in favor of soft drinks. It wasn't until the early 1990s that an interest in high quality coffee reached the mainstream population again thanks to the advent of the specialty coffee shop.

By 1998 the United States had become the largest consumer of coffee in the world. This officially ended the slide in U.S coffee consumption, marking the first increase in a third of a century.

Some of these coffee specialty shops went on to become huge multi-national corporations. The coffee served in these shops was comparatively high quality, but freshness still suffered because people weren't roasting their own coffee beans at home.

The Final Step in the Return to Quality

The flavor and freshness of coffee was at its best in America nearly a century ago when it was roasted in small batches at home. Because roasted coffee is so vulnerable to oxygen damage, shipping it and allowing it to sit on store shelves and in café bins for days or weeks at a time is a recipe for stale, flavorless coffee.

Today, a growing number of coffee enthusiasts are taking back the freshness through the art of home coffee roasting. It's the final step in the return to quality and freshness. And it's the beginning of an exciting new era in the history of coffee.