I hadn't realized that I've grown up with coffee -- the kind that's worth drinking, at least.
I learned much in this surprisingly interesting program from the History Channel.
I had never considered that coffee is a truly American drink. Many of our colonists preferred it, wishing to stick a thumb in the eye of tea-sipping King George III. And, from what I learned here, coffee was tops for Civil War soldiers, cowboys, and prospectors.
But coffee here in the States wasn't always the tasty brew it is today. Dunkin' Donuts came into being in the 50s, sure, but most of the coffee on supermarket shelves was pretty drab fare, vacuum-packed and such to prolong shelf life, which did nothing for flavor.
We learn here about Dutch-American Alfred Peet, who questioned the humdrum brew here, noting that the richest country in the world had "the lousiest coffee." His business model -- roasting coffee beans and selling them by the pound -- took off.
The visionary Peet later purveyed beans to three literary-minded guys from San Francisco who deeply appreciated his product. The trio set up shop near Pikes Place Market in Seattle, but it wasn't till the arrival of Howard Schultz, who became marketing director for Starbucks -- named after Ahab's first mate in "Moby Dick" -- that visions of a chain of Italy-inspired gourmet coffeehouses started to percolate.
Along the way, Dunkin' Donuts also evolved its model, expanding into franchises and exchanging a table-service approach for "grab-and-go" takeout, with such pleasing innovations as in-store bean grinding and forbidding coffee from steeping for more than 18 minutes.
My own tastes make me a child of both success stories. Starbucks taught me to prefer a dark and rich brew; anything less now tastes to me like dishwater. And Dunkin', now called DD -- a factoid unexplained in this episode -- has seduced me with its frozen coffee, complete with whipped cream, caramel, cinnamon, and a couple shots of espresso thrown in. I don't wanna know the calories, just gimme another!
I learned much in this surprisingly interesting program from the History Channel.
I had never considered that coffee is a truly American drink. Many of our colonists preferred it, wishing to stick a thumb in the eye of tea-sipping King George III. And, from what I learned here, coffee was tops for Civil War soldiers, cowboys, and prospectors.
But coffee here in the States wasn't always the tasty brew it is today. Dunkin' Donuts came into being in the 50s, sure, but most of the coffee on supermarket shelves was pretty drab fare, vacuum-packed and such to prolong shelf life, which did nothing for flavor.
We learn here about Dutch-American Alfred Peet, who questioned the humdrum brew here, noting that the richest country in the world had "the lousiest coffee." His business model -- roasting coffee beans and selling them by the pound -- took off.
The visionary Peet later purveyed beans to three literary-minded guys from San Francisco who deeply appreciated his product. The trio set up shop near Pikes Place Market in Seattle, but it wasn't till the arrival of Howard Schultz, who became marketing director for Starbucks -- named after Ahab's first mate in "Moby Dick" -- that visions of a chain of Italy-inspired gourmet coffeehouses started to percolate.
Along the way, Dunkin' Donuts also evolved its model, expanding into franchises and exchanging a table-service approach for "grab-and-go" takeout, with such pleasing innovations as in-store bean grinding and forbidding coffee from steeping for more than 18 minutes.
My own tastes make me a child of both success stories. Starbucks taught me to prefer a dark and rich brew; anything less now tastes to me like dishwater. And Dunkin', now called DD -- a factoid unexplained in this episode -- has seduced me with its frozen coffee, complete with whipped cream, caramel, cinnamon, and a couple shots of espresso thrown in. I don't wanna know the calories, just gimme another!
