The historical context actually makes this story more interesting. Prior to the 18th century, sugar was available in Europe, but was quite expensive. Certainly too expensive to be used in coffee. However, by the early 18th century, the New World colonies of the West Indies, both British and French, were producing sugar relatively cheaply. At one point, sugar was a huge European commodity and the demand for it actually drove quite a bit of the slave trade to provide the labor that made it possible. Similarly, coffee had previously been available, but had not spread all over Europe. However, the British and Dutch East India companies were able to acquire larger quantities of coffee cheaper (likely through slavery, at least in Indonesia) than the product available through the old overland "Spice Route" from Arabia through Egypt to Venice. ransportation and handling costs would have been exhorbitant! Interesting point: South Africa was established to help with the Dutch transport to/from Indonesia and India in the course of the trade.