The Tim Ferriss Show

#698: Dr. Mark Plotkin on Coffee, The World’s Favorite Stimulant — Chemistry, History, and More

Oct 12, 2023

01:16:23

Snipd AI

Dr. Mark Plotkin, an expert in plants, explores the ethno botany of coffee and its surprising connections to history. He discusses the significance of coffee as the most widely consumed mind-altering plant, its role in the Enlightenment and specialty coffee movement, and the process of creating Cockpunch Coffee.

AI Summary

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Coffee houses during the Enlightenment played a crucial role in the development and dissemination of knowledge and ideas.

Coffee belongs to the genus Coffea and is native to Africa and Madagascar.

Coffee has had a profound impact on culture and history, from its association with the Enlightenment to its role in shaping political events in the United States.

Deep dives

The History and Cultural Significance of Coffee

Coffee has a rich and intriguing history, starting with its discovery by a goat herder named Khaldi in Ethiopia. It spread to the Arabian Peninsula and became popular among Sufis who used it to maintain concentration during prayer ceremonies. Coffee houses became centers of intellectual and social activity throughout Europe, including England and France. European powers recognized the economic potential of coffee and established plantations in their colonies, leading to the growth of the coffee industry. Coffee houses served as gathering places for scientists, businessmen, and writers, fostering the exchange of ideas and the development of revolutionary ideals. Coffee is botanically classified as Coffea Arabica, and the processing and roasting of its beans produce the popular beverage enjoyed worldwide.

Napoleon's Attempt to Solve the Coffee Problem

01:28

The Origins of Coffee Establishments in England

00:48

The Legend of the Most Important Seedling in History

02:48

The Economic Value of Coffee

02:04

Introduction

1min

Sponsors and their Projects

1min

Exploring the Ethno Botany of Coffee

3min

Exploring the History and Significance of Coffee

14min

The History of Coffee and Its Introduction to the World

22min

Coffee Houses and the Enlightenment

26min

The Rise of Specialty Coffee

6min

Creating Cockpunch Coffee and the Karmic Side of the Project

2min

This episode is brought to you by my very own COCKPUNCH Coffee!

Welcome to The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is usually my job to deconstruct world-class performers to tease out their routines, habits, et cetera that you can apply to your own life.

This time around, we have a very special edition featuring Dr. Mark Plotkin.

Mark takes over my duties as host and shares an episode of the Plants of the Gods podcast. You, my dear listeners, are hearing the audio before anyone else, even before his podcast subscribers, so this is a Tim Ferriss Show exclusive.

So, who is Dr. Mark Plotkin? Mark (@DocMarkPlotkin) is an ethnobotanist who serves as president of the Amazon Conservation Team, which has partnered with ~80 tribes to map and improve management and protection of ~100 million acres of ancestral rainforests. He is best known to the general public as the author of the book Tales of a Shaman’s Apprentice, one of the most popular books ever written about the rainforest. His most recent book is The Amazon: What Everyone Needs to Know. You can find my interview with Mark at tim.blog/markplotkin.

This tightly-packed episode explores all things coffee—the most widely consumed mind-altering plant product in the world.

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by my very own COCKPUNCH Coffee! This year, one way I’ve scratched my own itch is by creating COCKPUNCH Coffee—the first coffee I’ve ever produced myself, and which I now drink every morning. It’s a tie-in to a fictional world I created, but that’s another story for another time. I enlisted the help of world-class experts and tested dozens of variations over many months. As longtime listeners know, I have very high standards when it comes to coffee. After dialing in the sourcing, roasting, and more, this is the combo that finally made me say, “This is the one!”

100% of my COCKPUNCH-related proceeds to date—now $2.5M+—including those from COCKPUNCH Coffee, go to my non-profit foundation, the Saisei Foundation, which focuses on cutting-edge, scientific research and other uncrowded bets.

To learn more about the latest projects that I’m working on, check out SaiseiFoundation.org. And if you’d like some of the best coffee in the US, at least in my humble opinion, check out cockpunchcoffee.com. I think you’ll love it as much as I do. Grab a bag—or two or three—at cockpunchcoffee.com.

For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.

For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors

Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.

For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.

Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.

Follow Tim:

Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss

Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss

YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss

Facebook: facebook.com/timferriss

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss

Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.