The story goes that around 1720 French naval officer Gabriel de Clieu carried coffee seedlings from Paris to Martinique. His own account, published in 1774, says water ran short and he gave his ration to the plants.
Later tellings add pirates, a storm, and a jealous passenger who tore off a branch. Historians note that coffee was already growing in Saint-Domingue by 1715 and in Dutch Surinam by 1718.
Martinique did send coffee to Saint-Domingue, Guadeloupe and other islands. Jamaica's and Puerto Rico's first coffee is also traced to Martinique. Today the island grows very little.
What time is taking away
What the record says
- De Clieu's account of sharing his water ration with the seedlings appeared in the 'Année littéraire' in 1774.2
- The plants came from the Jardin royal des plantes in Paris, which had received two coffee plants from Holland in 1713.2
- Coffee was already growing in Saint-Domingue by 1715 and in Dutch Surinam by 1718, before de Clieu's voyage.2
- Later retellings say the ship escaped pirates, nearly sank in a storm, and lost water until only one seedling survived.3
- Coffee trees were sent from Martinique to Santo Domingo, Guadeloupe and other islands, and on to Central and South America.1
- Jamaica's first coffee seedlings in 1728 came from Martinique, and Spain brought coffee to Puerto Rico from Martinique in 1736.4,5
- FAO figures for 2013 put Martinique's green coffee output at 25 tonnes from 30 hectares.1
Dates for the voyage vary (1720 or 1723). The scale of early planting is disputed: Wikipedia says some 18 million trees by 1777, while Coffee Review says 18,680 trees fifty years after arrival. Both figures are left out. The tale of stealing the plant from the royal garden is unsourced on Wikipedia and is not used.
- Coffee production in Martinique · Wikipedia in the bibliography
- Gabriel de Clieu · Wikipedia in the bibliography
- From Europe to the Caribbean · Coffee Review in the bibliography
- Jamaica's production and export of coffee: potential and challenges · The Gleaner, 2024 in the bibliography
- Coffee production in Puerto Rico · Wikipedia in the bibliography
