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New York City Coffee: A Caffeinated History

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New York runs on coffee. Read of coffee's past in the city and how it wove its way into the everyday. The coffee industry was made for New complex, diverse, fascinating and with plenty of attitude. Since arriving in the 1600s, coffee held patriotic significance during wartime, fueled industrial revolution and transformed the city's foodways. The New York Coffee Exchange opened tumultuously in the 1880s. Alice Foote MacDougall founded a 1920s coffeehouse empire. In the same decade, Brooklyn teenager William Black started Chock Full o'Nuts with $250 and a dream. Third wavers Ninth Street Espresso and Joe made the latest latte craze mainstream. Through stories, interviews and photographs, coffee professional and Tristate native Erin Meister shares Gotham's caffeinated past and explores the coffee-related reasons why the city never sleeps.

144 pages, Paperback

Published July 31, 2017

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45 people want to read

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Erin Meister

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Profile Image for Eden Gills Konnovitch.
383 reviews26 followers
July 22, 2025
I love coffee more than most things, and I love NYC more than most places. After a recent trip to the big apple, indulging in as much dirty bean water as my body could hold, I got so interested in history of how coffee became such an iconic part of New York’s culture. Enter, this book.

This book is the perfect, witty, smart telling of exactly where coffee got its start in NYC and how it shaped the culture and everything in between. A marvelous read for anyone who has an interest in these delicious caffeinated beans !!
Profile Image for Katharine.
747 reviews13 followers
May 2, 2018
Short, simple, and highly focused on the New York coffee experience. Fun to read!
Profile Image for Lynn .
162 reviews
October 25, 2021
A small little book with an interesting take on New York and coffee. It was very entertaining.
Profile Image for Aiden Feltkamp.
181 reviews5 followers
September 10, 2023
One of my new favorites in the historical nonfiction genre! It was such a fun & informative read. The author’s passion and experience are obvious. I learned so much.
4 reviews
August 29, 2024
Good Morning

It was a nice and Interesting story, how Coffee became so popular during the Prohibition period, prelude the Great Depression
Profile Image for Tatiaana.
130 reviews
July 28, 2019
Super specialized little niche but if you’re into coffee and/or NYC history, this little gem is for you.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews

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