Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005 - (Page 49)

B. Burkenroad and the latter’s son William, Jr. eventually took control of the company — which still exists — to lead it out of coffee business in the late 1970s to trading commodities. Importers dominated the market until the late 19th century. Although commercially roasted coffee was available in New York before the 19th century, it remained virtually unavailable for decades, as consumers purchased green coffee beans to be roasted and ground in their own homes. In The Historic New Orleans Collection is a letter written by Judah P. Benjamin to a lawyer friend in New York. Dated April 28, 1855, it describes in detail how to best brew a cup of coffee including how to properly roast the beans. In late 19th century New Orleans, except for the greatest coffee importers, tea, coffee and spice grinding companies had always tended to run together, but by 1900 companies were starting to handle tea and coffee exclusively. These businesses got their coffees from large New Orleans importers and teas from concerns in Philadelphia and New York. In 1903 New Orleans had six big houses dealing in tea and coffee — four were wholesalers and retailers, while two were only retailers. Four others dealt only in coffee and were starting to sell it processed, prepackaged and ready for the pot. In the1880s, J. Dumontier, Chief of the Battalion of Engineers for the St. Petersburg Gravier Street, Exposition wrote that, “coffee once the city’s should only be ground just street of coffee before it is needed. . . . One trade, was the should never buy ground coffee location of Erin’s at the grocer’s, not alone because sandwich shop, a of the loss of aroma, but also . . . business that of the adulterations of all sorts to touted itself as which ground coffee is exposed.” “Where the Best Few heeded this. By 1903, 90 percent of all coffee sold to conCoffee Drinkers sumers in New Orleans was Meet,”circa 1951. being commercially roasted and ground. While some grinders photograph by Charles served only the New Orleans L. Franck Photographers area, others were already selling in Mississippi, Alabama and part of Texas. AS THE COFFEE TRADE AND PROCESSING increased in New Orleans so did the number of companies involved in the coffee industry. In 1871 there were five dealers on or near Gravier Street. In 1905 there were 18 dealers and processors whose offices and plants were scattered about the Warehouse District on or near Magazine Street. Fall 2005/LOUISIANA CULTURAL VISTAS 49

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005 Contents Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Louisiana State Museum After Katrina and Rita Tabasco: Edmund McIlhenny and the Birth of a Louisiana Pepper Sauce Historic New Orleans Collection Louisiana Association of Museums New Orleans’ Coffee Connection No Man’s Land Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism Bookstand (Book Review by Thomas Uskali) Sound Advice (Music Review by Ben Sandmel) Forum (Commentary by Roy Blount, Jr. )

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.