Coffee is a staple of American life. Like an actual medical staple, it keeps people from falling apart. However, this wasn’t always the case.

Surprised? You shouldn’t be, ever heard of the Boston Tea Party? ain’t no Boston coffee party happening, ain’t no taxed coffee in the harbor, it was tea.

Way back in revolutionary America, coffee was like the ugly stepsister of tea. It was what you drank when you were desperate for caffeine and you were morally obligated to avoid tea because the taxing was unjustly high*. Look how times have changed – now coffee is the normal one and tea is like the vegan great-aunt who probably runs marathons for fun.

Anyway, this post isn’t really about bashing tea so that coffee feels better about itself. It’s more about history, which is always good to know when you need to impress a hipster (good luck with that).  Therefore, here…