Caffeine

History

Caffeine had been used in various cultures long before it appeared in written records. The ancient Chinese may have used tea as far back as 2737 B.C.E. Around 800 C.E., coffee was identified growing wild in Ethiopia. Legend has it that an Ethiopian farmer's goats discovered coffee. The goats ate the wild bean and were up all night instead of sleeping. Early chocolate use can be traced back to ancient Central America and Mexico where the bean from the cocoa plant was made into a chocolate drink used as a stimulant.

Tea consumption did not spread outside of Asia until approximately 1610 C.E. when early Dutch traders brought tea to Europe. In 1623 the Dutch East India Company gained control of the Dutch East Indies and the English East India Company gained control of India. While the English East India Company focused on importing spices from India, tea imported by the Dutch East India Company slowly entered England. As tea became more popular in England around 1657, this forced the English East India Company to begin importing more tea from China. “Afternoon tea” soon became the centerpiece of English households. Soon after, coffee houses began springing up around Europe.

In the late 1800s, caffeine, identified for its pharmacotherapeutic value, was introduced to the public as a fountain-type drink. In 1886 John Pemberton, a pharmacist from Georgia, distilled a French Wine from extracts of the kola nut. Later that year, Atlanta passed prohibition legislation. Pemberton decided to make a carbonated nonalcoholic version of what was soon to be called Coca-Cola. CocaCola, and later in 1890 Pepsi Cola, used this stimulant-based caffeine drink as a patent medicine for ailments such as headache, impotence, morphine addiction, and stomach pains. Until 1904 CocaCola contained actual cocaine. In 1904 Coca-Cola stopped using fresh coca leaves in the production of [Page 118]the beverage, and began using leaves without active cocaine alkaloids. Caffeine also became popular in the late 20th century as a feature of a new genre of soft drinks called energy drinks. Although iterations of caffeine-based energy drinks were available in Scotland in the early 1900s and Japan in the 1960s, the mid-1980s energy style drinks became popular in the United State with the introduction of Jolt Cola. In 1997 Red Bull was first marketed in America after being adapted from a Thai energy drink that contained caffeine, among other stimulants. The caffeine-based energy drink market then exploded in the United States. As of 2005, the U.S. energy drink market was valued at about $3 billion.

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