Hot Commodity: An Exhibition on Coffee, Controversy, & Global Trade in Early Modern England

Coffee is a ubiquitous beverage in contemporary culture. It is produced in over fifty countries worldwide, and a report from the International Coffee Organization states that, during the crop year of 2016-2017, all coffee growing countries produced 9,461,640,000 kg of coffee. The National Coffee Association reports that 62% of Americans drink coffee on a daily basis. Some consumers place great stock in the geographic origins of coffee beans, favoring certain single source and regional varieties. But few American consumers know of the history of coffee in the West and the complex role of its cultural origins. This exhibition seeks to shed light on these topics while introducing the conflicts and debate that surrounded coffee and its consumption during the early modern period. Specific attention will be granted to early modern English coffee culture because it functions as a unique example of how perceptions of cultural identities affected consumer practices during an early period of globalization. To accomplish this task, the exhibition traces the reception of coffee in England through four themes: "Exotic Goods, Foreign Identities," "Reception and Debate," "Coffeehouse Culture," and "Assimilation." Each theme will analyze a facet of coffee's connotations and perceptions leading to its assimilation into English consumer culture. This catalogue follows this structure, using both primary and supplementary objects, to analyze how a once controversial medicinal commodity became a beverage of choice