Evotional.com - Mark Batterson

In honor of opening day, I thought I'd share a coffee factoid.

Mental Floss had a fascinating article in the last issue on how a coffee shortage killed the confederacy during the Civil War.

David Norris writes, "Union campsites were dotted with tiny fires, each boiling a pot of coffee like a million miniature Starbucks." Or insert Ebenezers where it says Starbucks :)

Soldiers craved coffee because it was the best thing on the menu. Union supply chains were filled with corrupt food contractors who provided rotten, stale, and insect-ridden food. But the coffee was always fresh because it was deliever in whole-bean form. For what it's worth, officials requested whole beans after contractors began slipped dirt and sand into the ground coffee.

Here is where the story gets interesting.

Because of Union naval blockades, coffee was in short supply in the South. Before the Civil War, coffee cost 20 cents a pound in yankee money. Once the pre-war stockpile ran dry, that same pound of coffee cost $60 in confederate money! So the Confederates had to rely on coffee substitutes. Norris writes, "All these imitations lacked potency, tasted awful, and upset the bowels."

One fascinating footnote.

According to Norris, "Soldiers on the front lines often called informal truces so Rebels could swap tobacco for Yankee coffee and then dash back to their camps before they were reported missing."