Sip Sip Hurrah! How Coffee Shaped Revolutionary America

Did you know that the first mention of coffee in America was by Jamestown's most famous settler? Captain John Smith knew about coffee from his travels in Turkey and told his fellow colonists about the bean, although it would not arrive in the US until the 1640s. Coffee seeds themselves were introduced to the New World in 1723, and the coffee trade flourished. Even George Washington took part, growing coffee beans at his Mount Vernon estate, a variety of which is still grown in that garden today. Thomas Jefferson noted the connection between coffee houses and bold thinking, calling it "the favorite drink of the civilized world."