Driving down Highway 40 in Midtown, you might get a pick-me-up from the rich aroma of coffee wafting from roasting facilities. Just imagine St. Louis a century ago, when that nutty scent blanketed the city. Long before Seattle became synonymous with a steaming cup of joe, St. Louis was the metropolis known nationally for its coffee consumption—and distribution.
In a 1920 bulletin, the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce trumpeted the region’s reputation as the country’s coffee capital, noting that the city was one of the largest inland coffee distributors in the United States thanks to the nearly two dozen roasters who called St. Louis home. At the time, St. Louis was producing more than 750,000 bags of coffee annually, valued at more than $20 million. (Adjusted for today’s inflation, that’s more than a quarter billion dollars’ worth of java being ground and poured by St. Louis–based companies.)
French settlers brought the coveted bean to the area in the late 18th century. Coffee was a luxury back then, sipped exclusively among the gilded class, before the transportation revolution helped the region grow into a major hub for trade and commerce. As author Deborah Reinhardt notes in her new book, St. Louis Coffee, the expansion of trade in the early 19th century made coffee more readily available. Because of Missouri’s central location, St. Louis was a popular outfitting stop for miners, trappers, and settlers during their adventures west. When those groups passed through town, coffee was among their must-have purchases.
With an abundance of beans found within city limits, coffeehouses became nearly as popular as bars and saloons. By 1845, Reinhardt found, the city boasted more than 50 such shops, where men would congregate to enjoy coffee with their cigars. Two establishments in particular—Leonhard’s and Speck’s—were acclaimed for their coffee cakes. Still, the wholesale industry remained coffee’s biggest business in St. Louis. In 1911, there were at least 25 wholesalers in the city. Around that same time, local merchants interested in expanding their trading footprints met at the Planters House Hotel and formed the group that would become the National Coffee Association.
Vestiges of St. Louis’ coffee heyday remain. Ronnoco Coffee Co. was formed after brothers J.P. and James O’Connor watched a gas-powered coffee-roasting demonstration at the 1904 World’s Fair. More than a century later, the company is now a national coffee-roasting giant. Take a drive through the heart of the city some morning, and you’ll smell exactly what they’re cooking up.
INSTANT SUCCESS
Cyrus F. Blanke was one of the titans of St. Louis’ coffee industry. After starting his own venture, C.F. Blanke Tea & Coffee Co., in 1890, Blanke grew the business into one of the nation’s most prolific roasters. His coffee was served on the Wabash Railroad, and it was the house brew at local restaurants. HE ALSO HELPED POPULARIZE INSTANT COFFEE, MANUFACTURING AND SELLING HIS SOLUBLE COMPOUND IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY. “Talk about a visionary!” says Reinhardt.
