Southern Food andBeverage Museum
Louisiana has a long history with coffee.
Regardless of the recent claims of other cities, the port of New Orleans has
been the historic entryway of coffee into America. In the early 18th
century, coffee was first shipped to New Orleans from the Caribbean island of
Martinique. Once in Louisiana, it was roasted and distributed to the rest of
the state and the country. Coffee spread from Martinique to other parts of the
Caribbean, plantations in Brazil and Central America. Strong family and social
relationships have developed between these countries and New Orleans based on
the bonds of coffee.
Naturally, New
Orleans became and remains a city with a strong coffee tradition. This
tradition flows with the path of the Mississippi River to Acadiana and beyond,
encompassing the entire state of Louisiana, which has led to many coffee
companies developing in the state. The state’s first coffee houses,
historically a mix between French cafés and taverns began to spring up. In
those coffee houses, where the brew was often served with a shot of some kind
of alcohol, people did business over a cup of coffee—a tradition that continues
to this day.
