Middle Earth Ranger Forum

While thinking idly over coffe this morning, my mind strayed (though perhaps not far) to the presence of coffee in Middle-earth, which I seemed to remember being mentioned at least once in the Hobbit, but wasn’t quite sure. Wanting to verify that coffee did in fact exist in some capacity somewhere in Middle-earth, I did a quick google search and came up with this very interesting little article (linked below). I assume a number of the folks here own a copy of the book the article references repeatedly (the Flora of Middle-Earth - in fact, I believe I’ve seen it referenced here on the forums previously at some point) - it looks delightful and I may have to grab one myself.
Do we think, then, that coffee was localized strictly to the Shire (and perhaps Bree)? Or, based on the idea that it had likely entered Middle-earth through trade in Gondor, could it be that it was more widely consumed?

https://ew.com/books/2017/08/14/flora-o ... FFynMLt0-M

Personally, I think that it would be more widely spread. If memory serves, one of the dwarves in the Hobbit asked for coffee, leading me to believe that it would be a wider drink than just the Shire as dwarves are in many areas. Just my opinion, hope more chime in.

Meganbeyer wrote:Personally, I think that it would be more widely spread. If memory serves, one of the dwarves in the Hobbit asked for coffee, leading me to believe that it would be a wider drink than just the Shire as dwarves are in many areas. Just my opinion, hope more chime in.

Oh right! I hadn’t even thought about it in that context, but that absolutely makes sense!

Meganbeyer wrote:If memory serves, one of the dwarves in the Hobbit asked for coffee

Good memory!

The Hobbit, Chapter 1: An Unexpected Party wrote:Some called for ale, and some for porter, and one for coffee, and all of them for cakes; so the hobbit was kept very busy for a while. A big jug of coffee had just been set in the hearth, the seed-cakes were gone, and the dwarves were starting on a round of buttered scones, when there came a loud knock.

That means at least one of the dwarves was aware of coffee, so I agree that it seems like it's probably not a Shire-exclusive drink! Doesn't tell us how widespread it is, though.

Honestly, for my own personal purposes, I’m kind of wondering how plausible it might be that some (or more than just some) of the Dúnedain might have gotten their hands on the stuff and taken to brewing the occasional cup of “cowboy coffee” when out on the hunt or patrol. I know my preference is to have some form of coffee available whenever I camp, but I’m a 21st-century American - so I’m trying to balance the two by fitting it into a Ranger persona.

...I feel like surely we’ve talked about this before, but I couldn’t seem to find a previous conversation in my searches, so I figured I’d toss it out there.

It fits the longhunter vibe the rangers are often ascribed

I don't suppose the professor happened to mention Moka pots as well?

I would assume it to be a shire export, as it fits well with the period the Hobbits fit into, much like tea and pipe tobacco smoking. I wouldn’t assume the Dwarves would know of it pre-Smaug, but that it would be a drink they acquired a taste for during their exile living in the nearby Blue Mountains.

...which is perfectly legitimate and close enough geographically for a Ranger to score some. Not my preference, but if you whip that reference out in front of a naysayer, you’re pretty well ironclad.

The problem with coffee being a Shire export is that Coffee is a subtropical plant (originally from Ethiopia and then spread to Yemen)...I don't think the Oxford-y Shire would be the ideal place to be producing it. I had mistakenly thought that in The Hobbit, a dwarf requested "coffee, if you have any"--inferring that the dwarf was familiar with the drink but might not necessarily expect a hobbit to have any. But going back to the text I see that is not the case; it is merely one of the drinks called for by someone in the party.
Assuming there are all kinds of unseen societies off the edge of the map, as I don't think the Shire is exporting coffee I figured that it made its way to the NW Wilderland sphere and Erebor via trade networks and contacts with one of the Mannish (or Dwarvish) kingdoms further east or south down the rivers Running or Redwater, like Dorwinion or some Wainrider homeland. I figure there's gotta be some Middle-earth equivalent of the Silk Roads at work.

Udwin wrote:The problem with coffee being a Shire export is that Coffee is a subtropical plant (originally from Ethiopia and then spread to Yemen)...I don't think the Oxford-y Shire would be the ideal place to be producing it. I had mistakenly thought that in The Hobbit, a dwarf requested "coffee, if you have any"--inferring that the dwarf was familiar with the drink but might not necessarily expect a hobbit to have any. But going back to the text I see that is not the case; it is merely one of the drinks called for by someone in the party.
Assuming there are all kinds of unseen societies off the edge of the map, as I don't think the Shire is exporting coffee I figured that it made its way to the NW Wilderland sphere and Erebor via trade networks and contacts with one of the Mannish (or Dwarvish) kingdoms further east or south down the rivers Running or Redwater, like Dorwinion or some Wainrider homeland. I figure there's gotta be some Middle-earth equivalent of the Silk Roads at work.

I tend to agree! This is very much what the above-linked article in my initial post was arguing.

Personally, I place coffee in the Hobbit alongside Bilbo's mechanical clock on his mantle, the matches for his pipe, and the passing reference in the goblin caves to explosives. That is, I see the mention of coffee in Hobbiton as more for the cozy childlike "fairy story" feel that's especially strong in the first act, and less as literal truth. A proper cozy Victorian/Edwardian kitchen has coffee for entertaining, and so naturally Bilbo has coffee.

If I were to try to "play it serious" in a reenacting context, I'd substitute in something derived from various native sources: maybe a mix of toasted nut and grain, a semi-stimulant herb (don't know what), perhaps a bit of butter as thickener, etc etc - basically, try to hit as many of the "cozy rich warm beverage" buttons as I could without needing to justify a global trade network. (The unexpected party is after all pre-death-of-Smaug, and so traffic through Dale and points east is presumably basically nill, and the greenway not much better).

If I were merely reading the story as intended for a nice cozy time... Bilbo has proper coffee, and it's delicious.