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| The origin and history of coffee shop |
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The idea of a coffee house usually brings to mind a cozy place that serves gourmet coffee and espresso drinks, with couches to lounge in while you sip.
The first recorded coffee place dates back to 1475. It was located in the Turkish city of Constantinople (now Istanbul) and was called Kiva Han. Coffee was so important at that point of time that a Turkish man could legally divorce his wife if she was unable to make him a good cup.
The idea of adding one’s cup with cream and sweeteners came into fashion in Europe around 1529, when the first coffee house was established when Vienna was invaded by the Turkish army, who left many bags of coffee behind when they fled the city. Franz Georg Kolschitzky claimed the coffee as the spoils of war and opened the first coffee house. The beverage was quite a hit, and when the coffee houses started serving pastries and other confectionary treats, their popularity exploded.
Coffee establishments continued to spread, with the first opening up in Britain in 1652.The British called their coffee houses, “penny universities” because that was the price for the coffee and rich business men were found there. From there, the idea spread further through Europe. Italy in 1654 and then in Paris in 1672.
When America was colonized; the coffee houses were quick to follow. The role of the American coffee house was the same as those in England: the hotspots for the business community. The Tontine Coffee House (1792) in New York was the original location for the New York Stock Exchange.
Until then, coffee houses were serving regular coffee. Then came espresso. In 1946, Gaggia invented the commercial piston espresso machine. The Gaggia coffee bar, in Italy, was the first to offer espresso along with the regular coffee. The modern age of coffee houses was born.
Of course, the age-old coffee houses should not be confused with the coffee shop of today. Coffee shops are really restaurants that serve a typical menu of diner food, along with basic coffee. The coffee houses opened by Starbucks, which opened in 1971, in Seattle have taken the world by storm with more than 8000 locations worldwide.
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