A treatise concerning the properties and effects of coffee

In Short

First published in 1785, Benjamin Moseley’s A Treatise Concerning the Properties and Effects of Coffee is a medical and political defense of coffee drinking. Moseley traces the historical origins of coffee, addresses its cultural acceptance across the globe, details the precise chemical changes brought on by roasting, and argues for its medical efficacy in treating head-achs, asthma, and opium overdoses. Beyond bodily health, Moseley frames coffee as an imperial necessity, advocating for reduced tariffs on West Indian imports to enrich British colonies, replace enervating teas, and provide affordable sustenance to the working classes.

The Story

Benjamin Moseley opens his treatise with an explicit appeal to both medical science and imperial economics. Writing as a former Surgeon-General of Jamaica, he emphasizes that the prosperity of the West Indian colonies directly impacts the financial and physical health of Great Britain. Moseley argues that encouraging coffee cultivation in Jamaica and other British islands will stabilize colonial security by employing more white laborers, while lower import duties will allow affordable plantation coffee to reach the British public, replacing harmful teas and excessive alcohol.

To establish credibility, Moseley dives into the global history and etymology of coffee. He clears up past misunderstandings among botanists and physicians, correcting historical writers like Velschius and Prosper Alpinus regarding ancient medical terms like Bunchum and Ben. He documents how coffee spread from Yemen through Persia, Egypt, and Turkey, detailing its turbulent journey through religious and political bans. In Mecca and Cairo, coffee survived riots, official bans, and legal challenges from strict Islamic authorities, eventually becoming a staple of daily life. Moseley contrasts these historical controversies with the arrival of coffee in Europe, noting that London’s first coffee-house opened in 1652 in St. Michael’s Alley, Cornhill, through a Greek servant named Pasqua Rossée.

Moving from history to science, Moseley isolates roasting—or torrefaction—as the single process that unlocks coffee’s true virtues. Fire destroys the raw berry's leguminous taste, releases its essential oils, and produces a fragrant empyreuma that cannot be replicated by roasted wheat, rye, or beans. However, proper roasting requires extreme precision: under-done berries oppress the stomach, while over-done berries become bitter, hot, and astringent.

Moseley then systematically outlines coffee’s wide-ranging medicinal powers. He details its efficacy as a stimulant and deobstruent, noting its capacity to clear internal obstructions, ease digestion, and alleviate severe headaches. He highlights its role as a respiratory aid, citing Sir John Floyer’s use of strong black coffee to cure chronic asthma, and notes its value in soothing coughs when combined with warm milk. Crucially, Moseley presents coffee as a powerful antidote to the toxic side effects and hypnotic stupor caused by opium abuse, countering historical detractor Simon Paulli's claims that coffee reduces vitality.

Finally, Moseley provides practical advice for daily consumption. He recommends drinking coffee warm with sugar-candy and cream, or taking a small cup after light dinners to aid digestion, while warning against drinking it after heavy meals with heavy wines. He concludes with an urgent political plea: by lowering duties on West Indian coffee, Parliament can boost colonial trade, enhance public health, and provide the British poor with a wholesome, refreshing daily beverage.

How It Unfolds

The colonial case Moseley argues that encouraging coffee production in the West Indies strengthens British trade, bolsters island security, and provides an economical staple for the home population.

Etymology and ancient origins The narrative traces the names of coffee back to Arabic terms like Cahouah, resolving historical medical debates over whether ancient authors like Avicenna were referring to the coffee berry.

Persecution and triumph in the East Coffee faces bans, violent riots, and legal trials in Mecca and Cairo, but ultimately triumphs over religious skepticism to become an essential daily drink across the Ottoman Empire.

Arrival in European culture The text details how coffee-houses established themselves in Europe, recording that London's first coffee-house was opened in 1652 by Pasqua Rossée in St. Michael's Alley.

The chemistry of roasting Moseley explains how heat alters the chemical composition of the raw bean, emphasizing that proper roasting creates the unique, exhilarating oil essential to coffee's taste and medicinal power.

Medical virtues and applications The treatise catalogues coffee's health benefits, showing how it relieves severe headaches, alleviates asthma fits, aids obstructed circulation, and counteracts the dangerous side effects of opium.

An imperial prescription Moseley concludes by offering practical instructions for preparing coffee with milk, sugar-candy, or spices, while calling on Parliament to reduce taxes on plantation coffee to benefit the nation's health and economy.

The People

Benjamin Moseley The author and physician to Chelsea Hospital, who uses his clinical experience in Jamaica to champion coffee as both a potent medical cure and a vital economic driver for the British Empire.

Pasqua Rossée A Ragusian Greek servant to Turkey merchant Daniel Edwards, who opened the very first coffee-house in London in 1652 in St. Michael's Alley, Cornhill, to satisfy public curiosity.

Sir John Floyer An English physician who suffered from severe asthma from his youth until old age, finding no relief until he discovered that drinking strong cups of coffee abated his fits.

Simon Paulli A learned medical writer and critic of coffee, whom Moseley singles out and refutes for spreading fabulous tales that coffee acts as an unhealthy drier and dampens human vitality.

Sciadli An Arabian priest featured in popular legend who discovered coffee's invigorating effects after a goatherd noticed his flock frisking about after eating berries from wild shrubs.

In Its Own Voice

"Two of the samples were equal to the best Mocha Coffee, and two more of them superior to any Coffee to be had at the grocers shops in London, unless you will pay the price of picked Coffee for it, which is two shillings per pound more than for that which they call the best Coffee."

A letter from Stephen Fuller demonstrates that West Indian plantation owners successfully cultivated coffee berries equal or superior in quality to Arabian imports.

"A dish of strong Coffee without milk or sugar, taken frequently in the paroxysm of some asthmas, abates the fit; and I have often known it to remove the fit entirely."

Moseley shares his direct medical observations regarding coffee's rapid therapeutic effects on patients suffering from acute respiratory distress.

"The Turks, Arabians, Persians, and Egyptians, drink Coffee all day long, in small cups, supping it up by a little at a time, as hot as they can bear it; and what is prepared from three or four ounces among them, is considered as a moderate quantity for one person in a day."

The text highlights the widespread, continuous consumption of hot coffee across Eastern cultures as proof of its daily safety and benefits.

What It's Really About

At its core, the treatise is an argument for the integration of empirical science, daily diet, and statecraft. Moseley attempts to strip away historical superstition, medical prejudice, and religious dogma surrounding coffee, using observational evidence to prove its tangible benefits to the human body. Underneath its medical claims lies a distinct political agenda: the belief that individual health and imperial prosperity are deeply intertwined. By reframing a luxury import into an essential, domestically supplied commodity, Moseley argues that public health can be improved through wise economic policy, lower tariffs, and colonial investment, ultimately using diet to build a stronger, healthier empire.

Why Read It Today

Modern readers interested in the social history of food, early modern medicine, and British imperialism will find A Treatise Concerning the Properties and Effects of Coffee a fascinating historical document. Moseley writes with firm confidence, blending rigorous citations of classical medical authorities with practical colonial observations. It offers a vivid glimpse into an era when coffee was moving from an exotic luxury to an everyday necessity, revealing how deeply eighteenth-century science was entangled with colonial trade and politics.

The text presents very few reading difficulties, as its prose is straightforward, clean, and accessible. While readers will encounter archaic spellings, Latin citations, and obsolete eighteenth-century medical terms like "deobstruent," "empyreuma," and "choler," these elements add historical texture rather than friction. What stays with you is how modern many of Moseley's arguments feel—from his precise observations on the necessity of a good roast to his recognition of coffee as an indispensable focus-booster and social driver. It stands as an engaging snapshot of early coffee culture through the eyes of an enthusiastic eighteenth-century physician.