The Times-Picayune is marking the tricentennial of New Orleans with its ongoing 300 for 300 project, running through 2018 and highlighting the moments and people that connect and inspire us. Today, the series continues with introduction in New Orleans of the now-ubiquitous coffee break.

THEN: New Orleans has long been a coffee city, with a history dating to the 18th century and owing to the city's location at the mouth of the Mississippi River, making it a perfect distribution point for South and Central American beans headed for U.S. consumers. But in addition to supplying the nation with coffee, the city is also credited with supplying it with a new tradition: the coffee break, as documented in the 1928 book "Fabulous New Orleans" by author Lyle Saxon. "It is no unusual thing for a businessman to say casually: 'Well, let's go and get a cup of coffee' as a visitor in his office is making ready to depart," Saxon wrote. "It is a little thing perhaps, this drinking of coffee at odd times, but it is very characteristic of the city itself. Men in New Orleans give more thought to the business of living than men in other American cities. ... I have heard Northern business men complain bitterly about these little interruptions for coffee or what-not."

NOW: Nowadays, when people think coffee, they probably think Starbucks, the Seattle-based coffeehouse chain that seems to have found a home on every other street corner throughout the country -- and indeed the world. But New Orleans' coffee culture, with a history as rich and robust as a shot of espresso, still runs deep, whether you're sipping a cup at old standards like PJ's, CC's and Morning Call coffee houses or fancy, newer indies like HiVolt, Cherry Coffee and Church Alley.

TRI-via

  • By the mid 1850s, 62 million pounds of Brazilian coffee passed through the Port of New Orleans, second only to New York.

Well, of course the coffee break was invented in New Orleans. Even if you hadn't before heard of the practice's local provenance, it all just makes sense. Not only has the city long been a hub of coffee production, but it also famously embraces things of pleasure and leisure. (This sentence of Saxon's bears repeating: "Men in New Orleans give more thought to the business of living than men in other American cities.") Put them all together, and you've got the recipe for a mid-morning pause for caffeinating purposes -- and another in the mid-afternoon, and another whenever it can be squeezed in. And if anybody wants to complain about it, you can just explain to them (over a cup of coffee, of course) that it's simply in our DNA.

By: Mike Scott, staff writer

Sources: The Times-Picayune archive; staff research

More on 300 for 300:

  • Learn about the 300 for 300 series