For countless people around the world, the day starts with a hot cup of coffee. The aromatic brown liquid has become a staple morning ritual, with over 60% of Americans over the age of eighteen drinking coffee every day.
But coffee is more than just a pick-me-up. It has a rich history intertwined with global trade, colonization, and cultural practices. The origins of coffee date back to 15th century Ethiopia, where Arabic traders first began exporting the beans to Yemen. From there, the coffee plant spread across the Middle East and Europe, eventually making its way to the Americas.
As the coffee industry boomed, European colonizers established massive plantations across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, often through exploitative labor practices. Today, the economies of many developing nations are still highly dependent on coffee exports. Globally, over twenty-five million smallholder farmers make their living from growing coffee.
The Ancient Elixir
If coffee has come to dominate the global drinkscape, cacao has an even longer history. Traced back over 5,000 years to ancient Mesoamerica, cacao was revered by the Mayans and Aztecs as a gift from the gods. The word “cacao” originated from the Olmec people, meaning “God food.”
Beyond a tasty treat, cacao was an integral part of indigenous rituals, medicine, and social customs. During coming-of-age ceremonies, cacao was used to signify transitions between childhood and adulthood. In Aztec wedding ceremonies, the bride and groom would exchange ceremonial drinks of a cacao elixir, symbolizing the sacred covenant of their union. Even in death, cacao accompanied the departed as offerings to the gods of the underworld. The foamy, bitter cacao brews of ancient times bear little resemblance to today’s creamy hot chocolate.
Cacao ceremonies
According to the folk at Maloca Sound, modern day cacao ceremonies are social gatherings modeled after indigenous practices, centered on a shared sacramental cup of ground cacao beans dissolved in water. More meditative than celebratory, cacao ceremonies focus on heightening consciousness, fostering community, and connecting with ancestral roots through the drinking of cacao in its purest form.
Cacao ceremony facilitators guide participants to set intentions before drinking the bitter elixir. As participants become immersed in quiet contemplation, facilitators encourage reflection on the intentions manifested. Flavorings like spices, honey, or flowers are sometimes added to link the past with the present.
This resurgent interest in ancient cacao traditions is more than just consuming cacao for taste or buzz; it is about recapturing a lost reverence for the shared experience of food and drink as community glue.
Beverages with Purpose
From coffee house culture to cacao ceremonies, humans have always gravitated around beverages as focal points to advance social, political, economic, and spiritual aims. Coffee and cacao have even been directly pitted against each other in turbulent times. In 1773, when protesters dumped chests of British tea into Boston Harbor to protest unfair taxation, they switched to drinking coffee as an act of defiance and patriotism.
But perhaps there is room for both coffees and cacaos in fulfilling diverse needs. As climate change threatens coffee harvesting regions and smallholder farmers, the global community must unite to protect the land and people who supply our coffee habit. Cacao farming faces similar challenges, alongside a growing chocolate industry plagued by uneven profits, poor working conditions, and unsustainable farming practices.
Conclusion
There are no straightforward solutions, but paying mindful attention is a start – not just to the morning coffee that jolts us awake, but to the hands that cultivated those beans and the traditions that infuse them with purpose. Each sip connects us to human stories, unlocking gateways to understanding our shared history and future.
