Comments on: The anthropology of coffee http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/the-anthropology-of.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Thu, 23 May 2013 09:28:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Fuser-Invent http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/the-anthropology-of.html#comment-855565 Fuser-Invent Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-855565 Awesome three part series. As an employee at a small roasting company, I found this really interesting and decided to share the link with all of our friends. <!-- http://mocha-joes.blogspot.com/ --> Awesome three part series. As an employee at a small roasting company, I found this really interesting and decided to share the link with all of our friends.

]]> By: Daniel Markham http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/the-anthropology-of.html#comment-851482 Daniel Markham Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-851482 Next time you are visiting the U.S., let me (@danielofarabica on Twitter) know and I'll direct you to quality coffee joints. No excuse for having bad coffee in a major metro area in the U.S. Next time you are visiting the U.S., let me (@danielofarabica on Twitter) know and I’ll direct you to quality coffee joints. No excuse for having bad coffee in a major metro area in the U.S.

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/the-anthropology-of.html#comment-852020 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-852020 Coffee did not "come back," it never left. I clearly think the facts are not facts at all. As a 1960 person we went to local Coffee Houses in Santa Monica, Venice and Hollywood where we had espressos and lattes, no booze sold at those Jazz joints or Folk Music places. They roasted their own coffee and it was GREAT!! Grandma's coffee was also wonderful because she got "fresh roasted beans" and not the crap in the cans! A little roaster right in the middle of Beverly Hills supplied coffee for those who hated the canned stuff. Coffee did not “come back,” it never left. I clearly think the facts are not facts at all.
As a 1960 person we went to local Coffee Houses in Santa Monica, Venice and Hollywood where we had espressos and lattes, no booze sold at those Jazz joints or Folk Music places.

They roasted their own coffee and it was GREAT!!

Grandma’s coffee was also wonderful because she got “fresh roasted beans” and not the crap in the cans!
A little roaster right in the middle of Beverly Hills supplied coffee for those who hated the canned stuff.

]]> By: angelayu http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/the-anthropology-of.html#comment-851513 angelayu Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-851513 Having coffee in China is for social networking only! Interesting article! Having coffee in China is for social networking only! Interesting article!

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/the-anthropology-of.html#comment-851534 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-851534 Hi, what about big coffee corporations, who strangle small coffee farmers to death with their monopoly and market manipulation strategies? Like Nestle, for example, the worst enemy of social development in the socalled third world: http://www.maketradefair.com/en/assets/english/BitterCoffee.pdf Also read: Jean Ziegler "Empire of Shame": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9782253121152 Best regards, Ricardo Cristof Hi,

what about big coffee corporations, who strangle small coffee farmers to death with their monopoly and market manipulation strategies?

Like Nestle, for example, the worst enemy of social development in the socalled third world:
http://www.maketradefair.com/en/assets/english/BitterCoffee.pdf

Also read: Jean Ziegler “Empire of Shame”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9782253121152

Best regards,
Ricardo Cristof

]]> By: bkad http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/the-anthropology-of.html#comment-851320 bkad Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-851320 Interesting reads. As a non-coffee drinker, I've always felt like an 'outsider' looking at the strange world of coffee. I've never thought of using that perspective to anthropological advantage. Interesting reads. As a non-coffee drinker, I’ve always felt like an ‘outsider’ looking at the strange world of coffee. I’ve never thought of using that perspective to anthropological advantage.

]]> By: Kaz http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/the-anthropology-of.html#comment-851326 Kaz Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-851326 Sounds like the exhibition currently at the Yale Peabody Museum here in New Haven - http://www.peabody.yale.edu/exhibits/coffee.html Sounds like the exhibition currently at the Yale Peabody Museum here in New Haven – http://www.peabody.yale.edu/exhibits/coffee.html

]]> By: Judy Williams http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/the-anthropology-of.html#comment-851602 Judy Williams Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-851602 I am so thankful for the little coffee shop here in town. Every bean, cup, pot of coffee or tea is a labor of love. I am so thankful for the little coffee shop here in town. Every bean, cup, pot of coffee or tea is a labor of love.

]]> By: Robert http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/the-anthropology-of.html#comment-851641 Robert Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-851641 I used to hate coffee. Whenever I would try it, I'd make this screwed-up face that was part surprise, part disgust, and all rejection. My coffee-face was almost as funny as my alcohol-face (of which surprise is not an ingredient). Then I got a coffeemaker whose brand rhymes with Fun. (I'm not a shill!) I discovered that I hated coffee because it was never prepared properly. With my new coffeemaker, all the bitter was removed, and I started to enjoy coffee and its delicious power of the wake-up. I still hate alcohol, though. I used to hate coffee. Whenever I would try it, I’d make this screwed-up face that was part surprise, part disgust, and all rejection. My coffee-face was almost as funny as my alcohol-face (of which surprise is not an ingredient).

Then I got a coffeemaker whose brand rhymes with Fun. (I’m not a shill!) I discovered that I hated coffee because it was never prepared properly. With my new coffeemaker, all the bitter was removed, and I started to enjoy coffee and its delicious power of the wake-up.

I still hate alcohol, though.

]]> By: dr http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/the-anthropology-of.html#comment-851642 dr Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-851642 The blog posts were a little disappointing. There are many excellent, well-researched books on the recent economic history of coffee (eg, Mark Pendergrast's delightful <i>Uncommon Grounds</i> from 1999), but this analysis depended on an article (at http://www.scribd.com/doc/30828362/Yuppie-Coffee) which gets its data mainly from 2 trade journals. The blog posts were a little disappointing. There are many excellent, well-researched books on the recent economic history of coffee (eg, Mark Pendergrast’s delightful Uncommon Grounds from 1999), but this analysis depended on an article (at http://www.scribd.com/doc/30828362/Yuppie-Coffee) which gets its data mainly from 2 trade journals.

]]> By: baberman http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/the-anthropology-of.html#comment-851388 baberman Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-851388 John B. Watson, father of Behaviorism, was one of the advertising VP's who popularized the idea of the coffee break...for Maxwell House, I believe. John B. Watson, father of Behaviorism, was one of the advertising VP’s who popularized the idea of the coffee break…for Maxwell House, I believe.

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/the-anthropology-of.html#comment-851391 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-851391 You might check out Eduardo Galeano's "Open Veins of Latin America." In it he has 'organized the various facets of Latin American history according to the patterns of five centuries of exploitation. Thus he is concerned with gold and silver, cacao and cotton, rubber and coffee... These are the veins which he traces through the body of the entire continent, up to the Rio Grande and throughout the Caribbean, and all the way to their open ends where they empty into the coffers of wealth in the United States and Europe.' http://www.amazon.com/Open-Veins-Latin-America-Centuries/dp/0853459908/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1 You might check out Eduardo Galeano’s “Open Veins of Latin America.” In it he has ‘organized the various facets of Latin American history according to the patterns of five centuries of exploitation. Thus he is concerned with gold and silver, cacao and cotton, rubber and coffee… These are the veins which he traces through the body of the entire continent, up to the Rio Grande and throughout the Caribbean, and all the way to their open ends where they empty into the coffers of wealth in the United States and Europe.’

http://www.amazon.com/Open-Veins-Latin-America-Centuries/dp/0853459908/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1

]]> By: nerak http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/the-anthropology-of.html#comment-851659 nerak Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-851659 Oh hoorah! My anthropology degree is doing dances on its shelf! Thanks, Maggie! Oh hoorah! My anthropology degree is doing dances on its shelf! Thanks, Maggie!

]]> By: Revisorius http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/the-anthropology-of.html#comment-851414 Revisorius Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-851414 That kind of segmentation and rebranding is examined thoroughly in the excellent book "Priceless" by William Poundstone, which Cory did an entry on a few months ago (link below). I can't believe it took the coffee companies that long to figure it out. http://boingboing.net/2010/03/23/priceless-how-our-un.html That kind of segmentation and rebranding is examined thoroughly in the excellent book “Priceless” by William Poundstone, which Cory did an entry on a few months ago (link below). I can’t believe it took the coffee companies that long to figure it out.
http://boingboing.net/2010/03/23/priceless-how-our-un.html

]]> By: Itsumishi http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/the-anthropology-of.html#comment-851419 Itsumishi Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-851419 <blockquote>Nobody liked the cheap, nasty sludge generally available and the entire experience reeked of Grandma</blockquote> My limited experience of US coffee suggests not much has changed. Yes I avoided the corporate coffee houses.

Nobody liked the cheap, nasty sludge generally available and the entire experience reeked of Grandma

My limited experience of US coffee suggests not much has changed. Yes I avoided the corporate coffee houses.

]]> By: Joe http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/the-anthropology-of.html#comment-851431 Joe Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-851431 Oh, nonsense. Coffee didn't come back because of Maxwell House. There was an espresso culture among Italian immigrants, then there was a guy in Berkeley named Alfred Peet who started convincing the rest of us about the virtues of good, strong coffee. He wasn't interested in expansion, but a number of people who worked for him were; they moved to Seattle and founded a number of coffee companies, one of which was Starbucks. Maxwell House sells to the people who liked grandma's brown water. Oh, nonsense. Coffee didn’t come back because of Maxwell House. There was an espresso culture among Italian immigrants, then there was a guy in Berkeley named Alfred Peet who started convincing the rest of us about the virtues of good, strong coffee. He wasn’t interested in expansion, but a number of people who worked for him were; they moved to Seattle and founded a number of coffee companies, one of which was Starbucks.

Maxwell House sells to the people who liked grandma’s brown water.

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