The History of Coffee

The Irish coffee industry generates hundreds of million of euros every year. This is a pretty recent development - when I was growing up in the 1980s and 1990s the only coffee available was instant coffee. 

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The Irish coffee industry generates hundreds of million of euros every year. This is a pretty recent development - when I was growing up in the 1980s and 1990s the only coffee available was instant coffee. This episode also lifts the lid on a darker side to the Irish history of coffee – in the second half of the show I interview Cuban researcher Giselle Gonzalez Garcia who is researching the history of an Irish man who became one of the largest coffee producers in Cuba in the early 19th century.

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The Great Famine, the Sitcom Friends and Prohibition campaigners in 19th century Belfast all have one thing in common – in some way shape or form influenced the popularity of coffee in Ireland. This podcast which continues the story of coffee in Ireland revealing how modern Irish coffee culture is nothing new. Indeed your great grandparents may well have enjoyed take away coffee as much as you do.