This exhibit is no longer on display at the Burke Museum. Current Exhibits | Coffee National Tour Schedule

Coffee: The World in Your Cup. January 24 to June 7, 2009.
Exhibit

Pacific Northwesteners have a reputation for voracious coffee consumption. Every cup of coffee we buy and drink connects us with a web of hidden stories around the world. In this global age, a new exhibit at Seattle's Burke Museum explores the important question: What is the true story behind one of the world's most widely traded commodities?

Coffee: The World in Your Cup is a new touring exhibit, organized by the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. The exhibit provides a broad overview of the powerful influence of coffee on environments, human cultures, and economies worldwide.

Coffee will be on display at the Burke Museum from January 24 to September 7, 2009. Planning a trip to the Burke? See hours and visitor information.

"Coffee connects us all," says Burke exhibit coordinator Ruth Pelz. "Most consumers don't think about the people and places that bring coffee from the field to the roast to the cup, but this exhibit offers visitors a chance to be more socially and environmentally aware of what they drink. Coffee really has the power to remind us of our place in the world."

Highlights of Coffee: The World in Your Cup include:

  1. Color photographs of farms from South America to Africa to the Pacific Islands that tell the global story of coffee cultivation and trade
  2. Live coffee plants
  3. In-gallery "Café" setting for weekend coffee tastings and demonstrations
  4. Four short videos featuring different aspects of the coffee industry, including the local coffee scene
  5. Wall-to-wall display of coffee bags from dozens of Northwest coffee roasters
Looking to become a responsible sipper? Coffee explores the environmental and social impacts of the coffee industry and recommends ways for consumers to make socially and environmentally responsible coffee purchases at the grocery store or in a coffee shop. Concerned about how coffee affects human health? Learn about the impacts of caffeine, the world's most commonly-used drug, on your body. Curious about how coffee became so popular? Discover its early controversial reputation as a "revolutionary drink," and consider the culture that surrounds coffee in the twenty-first century.
Man shaking coffee beans
Inspecting coffee (La Violeta, Costa Rica)
Photo by Connie Blumhardt, Roast Magazine