What does American coffee bean owe to a coffee roaster in Warsaw?

Homines Sapientes, or humanity as a species, originated in Africa. It is from this continent that we have spread all over the world, and it seems that we have done quite decently in this world. Coffee beans while it also originated in Africa and became as widespread in this world as humans.

Coincidence? I don't think so.

What does the world owe to the Americans?

People came to the Americas from Asia via the dry Bering Strait some 15,000 years before Columbus and coffee beans, because then the sea level rose and there were no more walks across the Bering Strait.

Columbus discovered the Americas for European civilisation in 1491. Not the whole continent, of course, but the Caribbean at least. In any case, after Columbus it was easier for the next conquistadors and for European civilisation America became a space for exploration. For the civilisations inhabiting the Americas, no America was discovered, but the "discovery of America" made each individual civilisation realise that there were other civilisations at all. Not necessarily on other continents, as the Incas had no idea of the existence of the Aztecs and vice versa.

In any case, this encounter with Europeans did not end well for the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas. They had dropped in for a visit to the continent, however, anything earlier and their haplotype (genes inherited from their parents) did not stand up to the onslaught of new germ mutations. In a relatively short period of time, an estimated 90% indigenous people of the Americas died from diseases. These diseases were much less fatal for Europeans and proved to be a death sentence for Native Americans. Mutating bacteria from domesticated animals ran between Africa, Europe and Asia, so the human populations of these continents became immune to them. However, the Americas were cut off from this genetic exchange.

A group of people cross to another continent. The water level rises, no one else crosses. On the continents from which they came, people domesticated plants and animals as much as possible. But where they crossed over, there were no longer any animals susceptible to domestication, although people are not idle and are domestifying new plants. On old continents, the germs of domesticated animals mutate and pass on to humans. Pandemics kill people but immunise the remaining population. And in the Americas, no one becomes immune. That's how it worked out in a nutshell.

Fortunately, with the death of the majority of the population, America's heritage did not perish. These were thriving civilisations and without their domesticated plants we would not know the potato, corn, tomato, beans or peppers today. There would be no such classic European dishes as Belgian fries, American popcorn, Italian pizza, baked beans or Hungarian stew with peppers.

It is not only these listed agricultural products that we owe to American civilisations. There is a bit more. First and foremost, fertiliser. Guano that is. The export of this product from America revolutionised European agriculture. At first, as much of it as possible was imported from America, then it was learned to be produced in factories.

What does coffee bean owe to America?

But on the other hand, it has become apparent that important crops for Europeans, are doing very well in the Americas. Bananas, rice, cotton, avocados or coffee beans.

These plants have been given a second life in the Americas!

And not just that they can be grown there, but also a second life in the form of new varieties and flavours.

Coffee has only benefited from the move.

New climate, humidity, altitude, soil. New flavours after all!

What does American coffee owe to Warsaw?

The fact that it is roasted and such freshly roasted coffee can be tasted a while after roasting. Ideal for trying American coffees is starter coffee set from Story Coffee!

What do we have there? Coffees from Brazil, Peru, Honduras and... Ethiopia, the place where coffee was originally domesticated. Nothing to do but try it! And there will be another text about the associations that the flavours of these coffees evoked in my brain, but also about the American soil.

Written by Igor Maćkowski