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

Origins of Coffee (Disputed) Around 11 th 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- house Women generally did not intermingle/participate in any discussion or debate Women 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.