Coffeehouse Culture

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C ustomers in today’s coffee shops may be surprised to learn that they are participating in a centuries-old institution that has contributed a great deal to the idea of “modernity.” Tradition has it that an Ethiopian goatherd first discovered coffee when he noticed that his goats became frisky and danced after consuming the berries. Botanists agree that coffee probably originated in Ethiopia and then spread to Yemen and across the Arabian peninsula by around 1000 C.E. In 1457 the first public coffeehouse opened in Istanbul, and from there coffeehouses became a popular institution throughout the Muslim world.

European travelers in Istanbul were astonished at its inhabitants’ passion for coffee, which one described as “blacke as soote, and tasting not much unlike it.”* However, Italian merchants introduced coffee to Europe around 1600, and the first European coffee shop opened in Venice in 1645, soon followed by shops in Oxford, England, in 1650, London in 1652, and Paris in 1672. By the 1730s coffee shops had become so popular in London that one observer noted, “There are some people of moderate Fortunes, that lead their Lives mostly in Coffee-Houses, they eat, drink and sleep (in the Day-time) in them.”†

Coffeehouses helped spread the ideas and values of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. They provided a new public space where urban Europeans could learn about and debate the issues of the day. Within a few years, each political party, philosophical sect, scientific society, and literary circle had its own coffeehouse, which served as a central gathering point for its members and an informal recruiting site for new ones. Coffeehouses self-consciously distinguished themselves from the rowdy atmosphere of the tavern; whereas alcohol dulled the senses, coffee sharpened the mind for discussion.

European coffeehouses also played a key role in the development of modern business, as their proprietors began to provide specialized commercial news to attract customers. Lloyd’s of London, the famous insurance company, got its start in the shipping lists published by coffeehouse owner Edward Lloyd in the 1690s. The streets around London’s stock exchange were crowded with coffeehouses where merchants and traders congregated to strike deals and hear the latest news.

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Coffeehouses succeeded in Europe because they met a need common to politics, business, and intellectual life: the spread and sharing of information. In the late seventeenth century newspapers were rare and expensive, there were few banks to guarantee credit, and politics was limited to a tiny elite. To break through these constraints, people needed reliable information. The coffeehouse was an ideal place to acquire it, along with a new kind of stimulant that provided the energy and attention to fuel a lively discussion.

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