Roasting - Coffee Bean International

ROASTING THROUGH THE AGES: Exploring the Roots of American Craft Roasting (continued)By drawing on some rare source materialscovering the early years of the American coffeeindustry from the early 19th century throughthe middle of the 20th century, we can explorethe early roots of today’s craft roasting, addingdepth, color and texture to the more staidtechnical and scientific aspects of coffee. Suchknowledge and appreciation of our commoncoffee history—we are, after all, nothingmore or less than chapters in the middle ofan unfinished book—ultimately gives today’scraft roasters a better sense of who we are andwhere we are going, rather than just what wedo for a living.Lost Cause: TheForgotten CoffeeTemperance Movement1853Advertisement for Carter pull-out coffee roasters from1853. James W. Carter was awarded patent number4,849 in 1846 for his roaster, one of America’s firstpatented commercial roasters.In the early decades of the 19th century,there was a seldom-remembered movementadvocating coffee and tea temperance in theUnited States. The medical “authorities”behind the movement were convinced that theconsumption of coffee and tea was harmfulto the body and soul of the imbiber, in muchthe same way that the misuse of alcoholicbeverages is viewed today.One of the primary voices behind thedrive to banish coffee from America was Dr.William Alcott of Boston. In his book Tea andCoffee, published in 1839, Alcott states his case78roast