Abstract:
Throughout history coffee has been revered as a social enabler, physical stimulant, and at times, spiritual conduit. This piece examines the historical significance of coffee and the coffee bean in ritual, ceremony, and society, focusing on coffee's changing role from sacred object to ritualized stimulant. This essay briefly traces the changing role of coffee in society from its origins in Ethiopia, to its diffusion throughout the Ottoman Empire and Europe, to the contemporary American coffeehouse. Particular attention is paid to the secularized—but still venerated—role that coffee plays in today's society as an object of consumer fetishism. Finally, this paper will draw similarities between the historical veneration of coffee and contemporary fetishism of coffee and coffeehouses. Keywords: coffee, coffeehouse, ritual, consumer fetishism.
