[jacobolus]

In 1940, 70% of all coffee grown in the world was drunk in the USA, according to https://espressocoffeeguide.com/all-about-coffee-2/worlds-be... (obviously WWII had a big impact on global supply chains and consumer spending)

US consumption in 1946 was apparently ~20 pounds of coffee beans annually per capita, or an average of around 2.5–3 (8 oz?) cups of coffee per day for the ~3/4 of adults who were regular coffee drinkers.

Per https://www.retrowow.co.uk/food_and_drink/coffee/coffee.html

> Most people [in the UK] made coffee in a jug. You boiled the water and added it to ground coffee already in the jug. You let the ground coffee settle and it was ready to pour through a strainer and drink. Some people then boiled the coffee again.

My impression is that coffee preparation was comparable in the USA. Neither paper filters nor instant coffee were common until decades later.

[sjg007]

The percolator is coming back into fashion. The two issues main issues are caffeine concentration and taste: a slow drip gets you crazy strong Vietnamese style coffee, a percolator can do some of that but you don't want to burn it.