Caffeine Timeline

Prehistory:

500,000 or more years ago

Evidence suggests Paleolithic man is already drinking tea – camellia sinensis (K. Jelinek, Encyclopedia of Prehistoric Man). Exactly why or in what quantities is unknown, but the assumption is the caffeine or theanine content is the reason.

2737 BCE

Chinese legend has it that tea is discovered by Emperor Shen Nung. This should probably be taken with a grain of salt, as he was also purported to have a transparent stomach (allowing him to watch the effects of various foodstuffs on his body) and was reportedly poisoned 72 times in one day.

900 BCE

The Greek historian Homer mentions a bitter drink that is capable of warding off sleep. This was probably strong brewed tea.

Before 1000 AD

222 AD

Chinese writing mentions tea as a substitute for wine (Dale Pendell, Pharmako Dynamis, 2002).

Early 800s

Tea reaches Japan under Emperor Saga and becomes popular.

850 AD

Purported discovery of the coffee bean (and brewed coffee) by an Ethiopian goat herder who noticed his animals ‘dancing’ after eating the red berries from a coffee bush. Coffee beans were already being consumed (ground and mixed with fat) in Northern Africa around this time.

Late 800s to 1000 AD

Tea becomes the national beverage in China, first tea houses documented.

1000 AD to present day

1100 – 1200 AD

Tea plantations appear in Japan; coffee now cultivated in Arabic lands. “Qahwa”, the name for brewed coffee literally means, “that which prevents sleep.”

1400 – 1500 AD

Coffee spreads through Northern Africa and the Middle East. It finds use in religious ceremonies that require long wakeful periods of devotion. In Turkey a man is required to supply his wife with a daily allotment of coffee or be liable to divorce.

1600 AD

The Pope gives his blessing to coffee drinking, removing the sinful taint and making coffee socially acceptable.

1657 AD

First tea sold to the public in England; imported by the Dutch East India Company.

1700 AD

Tea is brought to America by colonists.

1773 AD

Boston tea party in the American colony to protest high taxes on imported tea. The colonies now make a patriotic switch to coffee and tea never again dominates in America.

1819 AD

German chemist, Friedrich Runge, discovers the active agent in coffee and names it kaffein.

1886 AD

The first version of Coca-Cola is sold as a patent medicine. The kola nut ‘flavoring’ contains caffeine.

1903 AD

Decaffeination is invented to extract caffeine from coffee beans. This eventually leads to cheap caffeine (the byproduct) which can then be sold for use in other beverages or medications.

1904 AD

St. Louis World’s Fair – Richard Blechynden introduces “Indian tea”. To make it more attractive on a hot day, he serves it over ice – ice tea is invented.

1906 AD

First mass-production of instant coffee.

1940 AD

The U.S. is now consuming 70% of the world’s coffee output.

1946 AD

Espresso machine is invented in Europe.

1960 AD

Excedrin Extra Strength becomes the first multi-ingredient headache remedy to contain caffeine (along with acetaminophen and aspirin).

1971 AD

Named after the first mate in the novel Moby Dick, the first Starbucks is opened.

1995 AD to Present

Coffee is said to be the world’s most popular beverage, with more than 400 billion cups consumed a year. It is taken daily (in food or beverages) by an estimated 90% of the world’s population.