Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1900-02-01
TEA AND COFFEE DRINKING.
AS Popularity of One Goes up Impor
tations of Other Go Down.

|
Nearly 9O0,000,000 pounds of coffee
were imported into the United States
| during the fiscal year ending July l,
| 1898, an increase over the year preced-
| ing Of more than 100,000,000 pounds
| During the same period tea to the
amount of 100000 pounds was i'm.
| ported into the United States,
against l15,O0O,000 pounds of tea in
the year preceding. These facts to-
gether with the steadily increasing
popularity of coffee as a drink in the
United States, and the steadily declin.
| ing popularity of tea, have led to some
revival of the controversy as to the
relative merits of the two and the SUI
perior popularity of the former here,
The Partially for tea or coffee shown
by the people of various countries can
not be traced to any particular cause
The English, the Russians and the
Canadians come generally under the
heading of tea drinkers. The Dutch, the
SCandinavians, the Germans and the
BeIgiAnS are coffee drinkers, but why
this distinction shuoId exist has never
heretofore been made clear and the
| position of the United States has been
an indefinite one in the matter coffee
being preferred by some and tea by
others, with this essential difference
| that, while the average consumption
per capita Of tea has remained sta
| tionary for twenty-five years, the popu-
| Iarity of coffee as a drink has been
steadily increasing The coffee i'm
| ported into the United States comes
chiefly from Brazil, which furnished
last year 65,O00,000 of the $40. 900 900
puonds received From other South
American states 90,000000 pounds
were imported into this country, from
Mexico and Central America 10000 900,
and from the West Indies chiefly Cuba
aud Porto Rico, 100000. Porto Rico
is great Reproducing island, and
its commerce with the United States
must be largely increased under the
newly established conditions Nearly
| J,OO0,0 GOO pounds of coffee were import
ed into the United States from Asia
and OceaniCa last year, chiefly from
| Hawaii and the trade with Hawaii in
coffee seems certain to be increased in
the future. too. Thus all economic
conditions appear to be favorable to
the growing popularity of coffee as a
drink, and no like conditions favor the
more extended popularity of tea. Not
only was the consumption of coffee in
the United States larger last year than
ever previously in the history of the
country, but 1t was larger per capita
than ever before, and was exceeded by
two countries only-Holland and Den
mark the per capita consumption of
coffee in Holland being % pounds and
in Denmark Is, against l. in the
! United States.
The tea imported into the United
States comes chiefly from China and
Japan and in larger amounts from
China than from Japan Very little
Ceylon or Indian tea, relatively, is i'm
ported into the United States, though
there has been a large increase in the
English market for both of recent
years, and the policy of the English
government has been to favor such i'm
portations rather than those from
China and Japan. Twenty years ago
only z per cent of the tea imported
into England was from India or Cey.
Ion now more than 20 per cent of the
tea imported comes from those coun-
tries, The collections of the English
government last year from customs
duties on tea amounted to $4,000, 900
the customs revnues from coffee were
only 100000 One OF the curiosities
OF tea drinking is found in its popu
larity in Canada, and one of the curl
ositics of coffee urinking is found in
France, where, notwithstanding the al
most universal use Of coffee with
meals, the average consumption per
capita il only about 3ls pounds, OF
about one.third o, what ii is in the
United States In Great Britain the
consumption OF coffee is less than
pound a year per capita and o. tea II
! Is more than pounds, Scientists are
, not agreed rs % the relative merits 81
| dcmorits IT tea and coffee drinking.