The Coffee House in Eighteenth Century England A Brief Overview of History.

The Coffee House in Eighteenth Century England

A Brief Overview of History

Origins of Coffee (Disputed)

Around 11th century in North Africa

Consumption spread into Yemen, and north into Syria and Turkey

First Englishman to document drinking coffee was William Biddulph in 1600

The First Coffee-Houses

1555 – Coffee-house was opened in Istanbul

Hungary, Germany, Italy, and France followed suit

1650 – First coffee-house in England was opened (Oxford)

1652 – First coffee-house in London

Atmosphere of Coffee-Houses

Were generally modest, but some tried to depict ‘Oriental flamboyance’

Alcohol was served, along with chocolate drinks, tea, and tobacco

Some coffee-houses doubled as barbershops/surgeons/houses of oddities

Coffee-houses were authorised to operate via a license issued by the Crown

Method of Preparation

Raw beans were roasted in oven, ground, and boiled in giant pot (ratio of 1 oz. of grounds to 2 quarts of water)

Some coffee houses used spring water, but many in London used (and preferred) ‘river-water’

Where did the ‘river water’ come from?

EWWWWW!!!!!!!

The ‘Penny-University’

Cost to enter coffee-house was 1p.

People of various classes (aristocracy, gentry, etc.) could intermingle

Debate clubs were formed (ex. Rota Club)

Birth of the newspaper/periodical (examples, Tatler, Spectator, Guardian)

Women in the Coffee-Houses

Occasionally, women were employed or in some instances, owned/kept the coffee-houseWomen generally did not intermingle/participate in any discussion or debateWomen would attend auctions at the wishes of their husbands

Charles II and the Coffee-House

Tried to shutter the coffee-houses due to the risk of treasonous ideas (ex. republicanism), or false rumours (ex. a claim of a Spanish attack)

Coffee-house owners petitioned Parliament

Many cabinet ministers had financial interests at stake

Unsuccessful in closing them, so Charles II had spies/informants make rounds

Questions to Ponder

Can parallels be drawn between the coffee-house newspapers and modern-day media outlets? (Particularly regarding freedom of speech and thought)

If the coffee houses were in fact shuttered, would it have made any difference? Would peoples’ thirst for knowledge have prevailed?

Can we also draw parallels between the Cabinet ministers who supported the coffee-houses and today’s corporate lobbyists? (Ex. oil companies)

FIN

Thank you for listening.