Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 November 1891 — The National Beverage. [ARTICLE]

The National Beverage.

The United States ranks high among the coffee-drinking nations, being surpassed by Belgium and Holland alone. The average consumption of coffee per inhabitant in this country last yeur was eight and a quarter pounds, while that of tea was but one and two-tenths pounds. Coffee is the national beverage of the United States. During the last ten years the annual consumption of coffee per head has increased two or three ounces. This is due in part to the fact that the people are better off and can afford to spend more in

luxuries. But the average quantity ot tea drunk has not increased in last decade. So it is evident that the United States is becoming more and more addicted to the Arabian or Brazilian berry. In 1820 the consumption per head was about seven ounces of tea and nineteen ounces of coffee. Ten years later it was about nine ounces of tea and forty-four of coffee. In 1840 it was nearly fifteen ounces of tea and five pounds of coffee. Sixty years ago the value of tea imported was about half to a third of that of the coffee. It is now about a sixth. The tea has been losing ground, comparatively speaking, all the time.—[Chicago Tribune.