Coffee history - London

admin

I'm a bit of a history buff, and knew that [despite what some of us might think] London features as one of the earliest cities with a coffee history. I recently came across this article which I thought was very interesting: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/london/9153317/London-cafes-the-surprising-history-of-Londons-lost-coffeehouses.html

Turns out the author does a coffee tour which would be fascinating if you're in London - seems like a nice guy so thought I'd give him a free plug: http://unrealcityaudio.co.uk/tours/the-coffeehouse-tour/  … not sure about the 'gritty coffee' though!

Also, special thanks to the very nice lady at Northwind pictures [a photo library in the US] who gave me a very reasonable rate for the use of this wonderful pic [attached]!!

FreshCoffee2

A good find and an interesting read A, and if I could make just a couple of little points: a) "...coffee came to be portrayed as an antidote to drunkenness, violence and lust; providing a catalyst for pure thought, sophistication and wit. Roseé had triggered a coffeehouse boom and his ‘bitter Mohammedan gruel’ would transform London forever..." We learn that the insurmountable amount of BS surrounding and enveloping coffee today actually has a long lineage...  b) As stated its an interesting read, but can we really believe all that? Perhaps it was the early pre cursor to the goings on in some modern day special interest coffee forums, just that emphasis of the discussions has turned away from politics and the arts to concentrate on the show of coffee, the equipment used to brew it, and the rise of the modern brands and heroes of coffee. Which also leads to another parallel between what is portrayed of the early coffee house scene and modern day forums, in that while the article makes it seem that everyone was "doing it",  they (the great majority) probably weren't.... Interesting parallels, and a good "sunday read" over.....a cup of coffee or two  ;D

admin

on 1455059290:

A good find and an interesting read A, and if I could make just a couple of little points: a) "...coffee came to be portrayed as an antidote to drunkenness, violence and lust; providing a catalyst for pure thought, sophistication and wit. Roseé had triggered a coffeehouse boom and his ‘bitter Mohammedan gruel’ would transform London forever..." We learn that the insurmountable amount of BS surrounding and enveloping coffee today actually has a long lineage...  b) As stated its an interesting read, but can we really believe all that? Perhaps it was the early pre cursor to the goings on in some modern day special interest coffee forums, just that emphasis of the discussions has turned away from politics and the arts to concentrate on the show of coffee, the equipment used to brew it, and the rise of the modern brands and heroes of coffee. Which also leads to another parallel between what is portrayed of the early coffee house scene and modern day forums, in that while the article makes it seem that everyone was "doing it",  they (the great majority) probably weren't.... Interesting parallels, and a good "sunday read" over.....a cup of coffee or two  ;D

oh, you're such a cynic FC, but probably right  :'(

FreshCoffee2

Hi A.... I think a small dose of cynicism is always healthy, although in this case I see it more as simple realism...

Brett H

Well, I've not read it but you've convinced me....

Brett H

Lovely!  Gently romanticised and most certainly generalised but what a picture.  I'm going to need some citations before suspending disbelief but it's a beautiful thing to read... Thank you!

admin

on 1455404942:

Hi A.... I think a small dose of cynicism is always healthy, although in this case I see it more as simple realism...

true, but my other point was more about the historical trend: i.e. the 'about face' between tea & coffee… i.e. we think of the UK as an [almost completely] tea-drinking nation, but it's interesting that it actually USED TO BE more of a coffee-drinking society, at least in London, for a century before the commercial interests decided to push tea instead. Also for the record, I paid $25 for that image - hope you guys appreciate it! 8)

Brett H

Wow... In that case I'll look at it properly. Nice!! :thumb: