Driver Lifestyles

A Driver's Best Friend

Imagine a world without coffee. 

A world without that rich, aromatic brew that provides comfort and stimulates the mind.  Or, as one coffee lover puts it, "it takes the edge off of the morning." A world without the beverage that, for many of us, makes it possible to shake off the hangover of the previous night's sleep and to begin our day.

A world without coffee.  A frightening image, right?

For the professional driver, coffee can occupy a special place of importance in the daily routine.  It can help him start off the work day, it can keep him awake during those long stretches of night driving and it can provide relaxation when he's winding down  before sleep.

Many drivers opt for truckstop coffee and consume it in copious quantities, while others prefer to brew (and even grind) their own coffee in the truck's sleeper. But, regardless of how the driver enjoys his java, he's continuing a tradition that dates back over a thousand years.

Beginnings
The history of coffee can be traced at least as early as the 9th century, in the highlands of Ethiopia. From there it spread to Egypt and Yemen, and by the fifteenth century had reached Persia, Egypt, Turkey, and northern Africa.

From the Muslim world, coffee spread to Europe, where it became popular during the seventeenth century. The Dutch were the first to start the large scale importation of coffee into Europe, and eventually smuggled out some seedlings in 1690, as the Arabs were not allowed to export the plants or unroasted seeds. This led to coffee growing in Java, which was owned by the Dutch. In

1538, a German physician who had returned from a trip to the Middle East gave this description of coffee:

“A beverage as black as ink, useful against numerous illnesses, particularly those of the stomach. Its consumers take it in the morning, quite frankly, in a porcelain cup that is passed around and from which each one drinks a cupful. It is composed of water and the fruit from a bush called bunnu.”

Raymond Moore
"I'm a two-cup-a-day guy.  I'll just drink decaf although when I was still on the road, I would have a cup of regular coffee to help me on those late night runs.  I like a cup when I'm reading the paper in the mornings."

When coffee reached the American colonies, it was initially not as successful as it had been in Europe, as colonists found it a poor substitute for alcohol. However, during the Revolutionary War, the demand for coffee increased to such an extent that dealers had to hoard their scarce supplies of it and raise prices dramatically; part of this is due to the reduced availability of tea from British merchants.

Americans' taste for coffee grew during the early nineteenth century.  The War of 1812 had temporarily cut off access to tea imports and high demand during the American Civil War as well as many advancements in brewing technology cemented the position of coffee as an everyday commodity in America.
Source:  Answerbag.com

Snippets of coffee history

Prior to 1000 A.D.: Members of the Galla tribe in Ethiopia notice that they get an energy boost when they eat a certain berry, ground up and mixed with animal fat.

1000 A.D.: Arab traders bring coffee back to their homeland and cultivate the plant for the first time on plantations. They also began to boil the beans, creating a drink they call "qahwa" (literally, that which prevents sleep).

Greg Geronsin
"I like the dark roasted coffee.  I like Pilot's coffee and a regional outfit called Quick Trip - they have several varieties.  I'll drink anything if I need it - it's a pick-me-up and it keeps me going." 

1453: Coffee is introduced to Constantinople by Ottoman Turks. The world's first coffee shop, Kiva Han, open there in 1475.

1607: Captain John Smith helps to found the colony of Virginia at Jamestown. It's believed that he introduced coffee to North America.
 
1668: Coffee replaces beer as New York's City's favorite breakfast drink.

1668: Edward Lloyd's coffeehouse opens in England and is frequented by merchants and maritime insurance agents. Eventually it becomes Lloyd's of London, the best-known insurance company in the world.

1690: With a coffee plant smuggled out of the Arab port of Mocha, the Dutch become the first to transport and cultivate coffee commercially, in Ceylon and in their East Indian colony - Java, source of the brew's nickname.

1773: The Boston Tea Party makes drinking coffee a patriotic duty in America.

Colleen and Tod Marmino
"I'm a coffee drinker but Tod is not.  I hate to waste the space in the truck for a coffee maker, so I usually drink instant coffee.  Coffee is both a comfort food and a stimulant, I drink it at night, too.  I can drink a cup just before bedtime and it doesn't bother me."

1886: Former wholesale grocer Joel Cheek names his popular coffee blend "Maxwell House," after the hotel in Nashville, TN where it's served.

1900: Hills Bros. begins packing roast coffee in vacuum tins, spelling the end of the ubiquitous local roasting shops and coffee mills.

1901: The first soluble "instant" coffee is invented by Japanese-American chemist Satori Kato of Chicago.

1903: German coffee importer Ludwig Roselius turn a batch of ruined coffee beans over to researchers, who perfect the process of removing caffeine from the beans without destroying the flavor. He markets it under the brand name "Sanka." Sanka is introduced to the United States in 1923.

1906: George Constant Washington, an English chemist living in Guatemala, notices a powdery condensation forming on the spout of his silver coffee carafe. After experimentation, he creates the first mass-produced instant coffee (his brand is called Red E Coffee).

Cheri Heppner
"I like to sleep at Pilot truck stops; they have coffee that's worth getting up for.  I only drink coffee in the morning.  Once I've had that first cup, I'm done for the day."

1920: Prohibition goes into effect in United States. Coffee sales boom.

1938: Having been asked by Brazil to help find a solution to their coffee surpluses, Nestle Company invents freeze-dried coffee. Nestle develops Nescafe and introduces it in Switzerland.

1940: The US imports 70 percent of the world coffee crop.

1942: During W.W.II, American soldiers are issued instant Maxwell House coffee in their ration kits. Back home, widespread hoarding leads to coffee rationing.

1971: Starbucks opens its first store in Seattle's Pike Place public market, creating a frenzy over fresh-roasted whole bean coffee.
Source:  CoffeeBeanShop.com

Coffee facts

Did you know...
Coffee is a widely consumed beverage prepared from the roasted seeds—commonly referred to as beans—of the coffee plant. A typical 7 fluid ounce (ca. 207 mL) cup of coffee contains 80–140 milligrams of caffeine.

-Coffee, along with tea and water, is one of the most popular beverages world-wide, its volume amounting to about a third that Coffee represents 71% of all the United States caffeine consumption followed by soft drinks and tea.

Bob Caffee
"I have my own grinder and coffee maker in the truck.  I use a mixture of Starbuck's Breakfast Blend and Folger's.  I only drink about 2 cups a day, usually during my overnight driving shift."

-Coffee is usually sold in a roasted state, and the roasting process has a considerable degree of influence on the taste of the final product. All coffee is roasted before being consumed.

-Coffee roasting is a complicated chemical process that creates the distinctive flavor of coffee from a bland bean. Un-roasted beans contain all of coffee’s acids, protein, and caffeine — but none of its taste.

-Decaffeination of coffee is often done by processing companies, who sell the extracted caffeine to the pharmaceutical industry.

-Coffee contains caffeine, a mild stimulant. Drinking coffee results in an increase of the heart rate of the drinker, increased blood flow to the muscles, and an increase in blood pressure and it causes a decrease in blood flow to the skin and to the inner organs. Most importantly for many drinkers, the level of dopamine in the brain increases.

Depending on the type of coffee and method of preparation the caffeine content of an average cup of coffee can vary greatly. However, on average for a 7oz cup of coffee the following amounts of caffeine can be expected:

Drip: 115-175 mg
Espresso: 100 mg (serving size 1.5-2 oz)
Brewed: 80-135 mg
Instant: 65-100 mg
Decaf, brewed: 3-4 mg
Decaf, instant: 2-3 mg

David and Patty Jo Jaynes
"We prefer whole bean coffee because we grind our own.  We drink coffee around the clock.  When we're at home, coffee is a comfort food - jit's nice to sit back with a cup and read the paper.  If we're on the road, coffee helps get us going."