John Magill is senior curator and historian at The Historic New Orleans Collection. Coffee is the focus of our topic this week and as always, John has some intriguing history tidbits to offer, this time about the story of coffee in New Orleans. John explains that by around 1850, New Orleans had become the biggest importer of Brazilian coffee in the United States and was surpassing New York as a major coffee importer. John also notes that contrary to popular belief, chicory in coffee had been introduced to New Orleans well before the Civil War.
Three decades after the war, in the 1890s, pre-roasted and ground coffee began appearing with increasing frequency on store shelves. Prior to that time, the common belief had been that coffee should be roasted and ground at home. Coffee drinkers and history buffs alike will savor this coffee-filled podcast with John that shines an historic spotlight on that ever-popular cup of Java.
