How old is old when we’re talking coffee shops? (Part 1: 17th Century)
By Perry Luckett , CoffeeMan1
I recently saw a story about a coffee shop that has been in business at their cozy corner for 25 years. I was impressed and happy for the owners. They’re weathering the COVID-19 storm by using innovative techniques to deliver my favorite beverage into the hands of our fellow coffee lovers. This coffee story covered a small part of local history, but it started me wondering about the world’s oldest coffee houses, particularly ones that have operated continuously from their opening to the present day. As you’ll see, they’ve been around a teensy bit longer than 25 years and have inspired a lot of creative people in their time.
In 1453 the Ottomans introduced coffee drinking to Constantinople (modern Istanbul). The world’s first recorded coffee house, Kiva Han, followed in 1475—reputedly opened by Shemsi of Damascus and Hekem of Aleppo in Talchtacalah, Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul). It was an immediate success as a meeting place for men, who congregated there to discuss affairs and ideas of the day.
Like many of the significant and historic coffee houses of the past, Kiva Han has since disappeared, but European nations eventually followed suit, with coffee establishments opening in Italy in 1645, England in 1652, and France in 1672. The coffee house has been a feature of many diverse cultures ever since. [Parker, Baskerville] Let’s take a little tour of these historical coffee houses from oldest (1635—Constantinople) to the most recent 1925—United States). For today, I’ll focus on the 17th Century and range in geographical scope from Turkey to London, Vienna, and Paris.
Famous Turkish coffee house: cozy nook in time of conflict
Tahmis Kahvesi (established 1635 in Gaziantep, Turkey and still serving). Crisis across the border in Syria has made this Turkish city not so safe for a cup of coffee. But that doesn’t stop many people from passing through and visiting one of the oldest coffee houses in the world. The café is aptly named: Tahmis means a place where coffee beans are ground. Situated in a historic central bazaar, it occupies both the original building and an outdoor terrace across the road (cooled by jets of water mist during hotter months). [Krasny, LonelyPlanet.com]
Several Yelp reviews fill in some details about the Tahmis Kahvesi’s past ownership and special features. It has passed from grandfather, to son, then father to son for generations. With almost four centuries of history, it’s a cozy place to play backgammon or sip a cup of strong Turkish coffee prepared on a charcoal stove—so thick you can nearly stand a spoon in it. Some people who find seats in the terrace garden also enjoy smoking a narghile (Turkish water pipe) as they sip their coffee. Another feature is music by talented musicians who visit both locations every 30 minutes. All in all, a very pleasant experience if not interrupted by the sounds of conflict over the border. [Yelp.com]
They serve different types of coffee, but most people come there for the menengic kahve, which is a local coffee brewed from the black seeds of pistachio trees and sporting a distinctive pistachio flavor. Some customers like it so much they come back several times a day for another boost. Given the strength of Turkish coffee, they must stay fairly buzzed for work or play.
Off to Merrie England: Cozy corner of the coffee world
St. Michael’s Alley Coffee House (established 1652 in London, now serving wine and other drinks). Usually considered England’s first coffee house, this modest place was opened by Pasqua Rosee in Cornhill London. Truth be told, a Jewish man named Jacob opened the first coffee house, called The Angel, a year earlier in Oxford, England. But Rosee was a better marketer. He distributed a pamphlet extolling the “virtue of the coffee drink” and naming himself as the first to make and sell the beverage in England. The original document is still on display in the British Museum.
Though Rosee’s nationality was murky, history tells us he was a man-servant or employee to a Turkish merchant trader named Daniel Edwards, who dealt in coffee and other luxury goods. Edwards may have helped set up Rosee as a public vendor after visitors to Edwards’ home who wanted to try this new exotic drink became too many and too frequent. [Baskerville, Freeborn]
Rosee’s cozy establishment went by a couple names. Some accounts refer to it as being called “The Turk’s Head,” whereas a plaque posted in St. Michael’s Alley today refers to it as “The Sign of Pasqua Rosee’s Head.” And yes, Rosee’s own profile marked his coffee house sign. Sporting a turban and a twirly moustache, his “Turkish head” became the default sign for all coffee houses. Actually, the cozy place was less coffee house and more wooden coffee shack, but it was popular and easy to find because it rested just below the spire of St. Michael’s Church, visible all over London.
St. Michael’s Alley coffee house became a very popular gathering place and a center for artists and literate chat. It also birthed hundreds of rival shops around London, many of which outlasted Rosee’s 6-year tenure as an owner. Although some evidence suggests he intended to open another more permanent coffee house on Cornhill next to Newman’s Court, all historical record of Pasqua Rosee stopped in 1658. His intended Cornhill location is now a Starbucks. Rosee’s original coffee house was rebuilt and reopened by another proprietor as the Jamaica Coffee House after the great fire of London in 1666. Rebuilt again in the 19th Century, it’s still serving drinks today as the Jamaica Wine House. [Freeborn]
Queen’s Lane Coffee House (dating from 1654 and still trading) is a notable coffee house on Queen’s Lane and is close to St. Edmund Hall—one of the smallest colleges at Oxford. It is one of the oldest coffee houses in England and claims to be the oldest in all of Europe that is still trading. It’s popular with Oxford University students and tourists. Established by a man named Cirques Jobson, Queen’s Lane Coffee House has hosted many literary masters, including, quite possibly, J.R.R. Tolkien.
The same family has owned the café since 1983 but rebranded it “QL” in 2009. They also own a smaller QL cafe and delicatessen at 126 High Street. QL serves a wide range of traditional British dishes such as fish and chips, sausages, and pies. It also offers Turkish and Mediterranean dishes including moussaka, kofte, salads and vegetarian and Halal alternatives. For those who prefer something to drink other than coffee, the menu includes a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic concoctions. A perfect place for families to while away the afternoon, it serves breakfast all day and is always busy. [Krasny,
Three other coffee houses are worth mentioning, even though they haven’t survived to the present day, because of their influence on aspects of England’s history and culture. One inspired many of London’s great 17th Century writers. The other two figured strongly in the history of the London Stock Exchange and the famous insurance house—Lloyd’s of London, respectively.
Will’s Coffee House (established 1660, no longer operating). This cozy shop launched in Russell Street, Covent Garden at the end of Bow Street London under owner William Urwin. Starting as Red Cow, then The Rose, and finally Will’s, it became famous after London’s poets, patrons and critics made it their home. John Dryden was the literary genius and poet whose reputation attracted the most famous of England’s men of letters to Will’s, including Samuel Pepys, Congreve, Pope, and Wycherly. Their frequent attendance earned Will’s the title, ”The Wit’s Coffee House.” Dryden became England’s first poet laureate in 1668, went on to shape the public taste for 30 years, and inspired other poets and prose writers with his judgments on the latest poem or play. He had his own seat at Will’s: by the fireplace in winter and by the window in summer. But Dryden’s death resulted in the coffee house’s demise. About 1712 it stopped operating when essayist Joseph Addison transferred its assets to Batton’s coffee house on the opposite side of the street. [Baskerville]
Site of Johnathan’s Coffee House—no longer operating
Jonathan’s Coffee House (founded 1680, no longer operating). Started under Jonathan Miles in Exchange Alley and was known in its early years more for revolutionaries than for businessmen or literary figures. In fact, during 1696 several patrons were implicated in a plot to assassinate William III, and many thought it was associated with Catholic plots against the Protestant king. In 1698, John Castaing used Jonathan’s to post the prices of stocks and commodities, which was the first instance of systematic securities exchanges in London. That year, other dealers expelled from the Royal Exchange for rowdiness migrated to Jonathan’s.
This coffee house was the center for speculations during the great “South Seas bubble” days of 1719-1720. In 1745, during the panic caused by the Young Pretender’s march on London, men won and lost fortunes speculating on the rebellion’s success. In 1761 a club of 150 brokers and jobbers formed to trade stocks. The club built its own building in 1773 in Sweeting’s Alley, dubbed the New Jonathan’s but later renamed the London Stock Exchange. The coffee-house building continued as a lottery office after the jobbers departed in 1773, but just five years later a fire destroyed it. [Baskerville]
Français : Edward Lloyd's Coffee house, London, by William Holland (1789). Public domain.
Edward Lloyd’ Coffee House (opened 1685, no longer operating as a coffee shop). Edward Lloyd established his namesake shop near the Thames River on London’s Tower Street. Unlike some cozy shops in old London, Lloyd’s was “spacious, well-built and inhabited by able tradesmen” according to a contemporary publication. Later in 1691 Lloyd transferred it to 16 Lombard Street, which was close to the center of English sea trade. From this coffee house Edward Lloyd launched his “Lloyd’s List” in 1696 which covered information on ship arrivals and departures. It also included some news on conditions abroad and at sea. This list eventually offered daily news on stock prices, foreign markets, and high-water times at London Bridge, as well as reports of accidents and sinkings.
In 1771, seventy-nine of the underwriters who did business at Lloyd’s subscribed £100 each and joined in the Society of Lloyd’s, an unincorporated group of individual entrepreneurs operating under a self-regulated code of behavior. These were the original Members of Lloyd’s; later, members came to be known as “Names.” Lloyd’s of London arose from this coffee shop and eventually became the world’s largest insurance company. [Baskerville]
A special coffee trip to Vienna covers the continent
The Blue Bottle Coffee House (opened 1686 in Vienna, no longer operating). This was one of the first and most notable coffee houses in Vienna. Georg Franz Kolschitzky from Poland opened it as Hof zur Blauen Flasche (House under the Blue Bottle) near Saint Stephen’s Cathedral at Schlossergassl. It catered to the local notoriously cash-strapped intelligentsia with coffee as well as newspapers, magazines and the charming custom that once a patron had ordered something, he could stay as long as he wanted, read and discuss. [Baskerville, Puehl]
Crowd scene at The Blue Bottle Coffee House, Vienna. Source: http://www.dorotheum.com, Public domain. File:Zu den blauen Flaschen painting, created about 1900.
Tradition has it that Kolschitzky played a part in freeing the besieged city of Vienna by infiltrating the Turkish lines and getting Poland’s King Sobiesky to send an army to free Vienna. The fleeing Turks left many sacks of brown beans that nobody wanted, thinking they might be camel fodder. Kolschitzky knew their use and value from his travels to Turkey, so he claimed them as his booty. He roasted and brewed them, added milk and sugar, opened the first coffee house in Vienna, served the stuff as Mélange (mixture or brew), became known as Georg—his first name—and the Viennese coffee tradition was born. This story likely isn’t true, but it was irresistibly heroic and compelling at the time. [Puehl] The Blue Bottle helped popularize coffee in Austria, and Kolschitzky’s coffee house soon became one of the most popular places in town. The owner also served his mortar-ground coffee wearing Turkish clothes, which added to the exotic authenticity of his coffee brew. Serving coffee with milk, though, was an innovation unknown to the Turks or Austrians at that time. [Baskerville]
As a side note, The Blue Bottle Coffee Company in Oakland, California, traces its name to the Vienna original. As the company’s website says, “In the early 2000s, a slightly disaffected freelance musician and coffee lunatic, weary of the commercial coffee enterprise and stale, overly roasted beans, decided to open a roaster for people who were clamoring for the actual taste of fresh coffee. Using a minuscule six-pound batch roaster, he made a historic vow: ‘I will only sell coffee less than 48 hours out of the roaster to my guests, so they may enjoy coffee at peak flavor. I will use only the finest, most delicious, and responsibly sourced beans.’” The company now has much larger roasters and shops across the U.S., Korea, and Japan—still adhering to the tradition of shipping coffee within 24 hours of roasting.
French coffee culture, revolution, and learning
Café Le Procope (opened 1686 in Paris, operating today as a restaurant). Cafe Le Procope is acknowledged as the first true coffee house and oldest restaurant in Paris. It rests right at the heart of the famous Quartier Latin. Sicilian Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli Cutò, a former lemonade and gelato vendor, opened it on a street then known as rue des Fossés-Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Procope inhabits a refurbished bath house, which Cutò repurposed when he decided to relocate the kiosk at which he peddled his snacks. Influenced by his Armenian mentor, Cutò’s shop originally featured servers clad in Armenian clothes.
When the Théâtre-Français opened directly across the street, droves of theater-goers seamlessly integrated Café Le Procope into their routines. It drew a clientele of artists and actors and became known as the “theatrical” coffee house although only for gentlemen. Throughout the eighteenth century the Procope became the intellectual establishment’s meeting place. The Phrygian cap, a symbol of Liberty, was first displayed at the Procope. French revolutionaries Robespierre, Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, and Marat were regular customers. Some say Voltaire regularly drank up to a hundred espressos a day—mixed with chocolate to help them go down. (See my blog post at for more information on Le Procope’s connection to Napoleon and the French Revolution.) Le Procope continued to attract luminaries into the 19th century. For example, American Benjamin Franklin visited this historic shop often from March 1777 to July 1785, when he lived near Paris as the 13 colonies’ ambassador to France. Alexander von Humboldt and George Sand were among the famous 19th-century regulars.
A number of other businesses occupied the Procope’s space after it closed in 1872. But the current business at this address opened well into the 20th century and has no relation to the original. It’s now a full-fledged restaurant, with a menu that includes such traditional dishes as 100-day old chicken casserole with basmati rice, veal stew, braised beef cheek with parmesan macaroni, coq au vin, and (my favorite) calf's head casserole, 1686 style.
By the way, Le Procope also holds some claim to be the birthplace of the Encyclopédie, the first modern encyclopedia. Begun in 1751 and edited by Denis Diderot, the Encyclopédie is most famous for representing the thought of the French Enlightenment. According to Diderot in the article "Encyclopédie," its aim was "to change the way people think" and for people to inform themselves and know things. He and the other contributors intended to remove authority over learning from the Jesuits and rely on logic and science. Diderot wanted to incorporate all of the world's knowledge into the Encyclopédie and hoped that the text could spread all this information to the public and future generations. [Krasny, Parker, Wikipedia]
With the rise of global coffee companies such as Starbucks, Costa, or Tim Horton’s, these historical coffee shops connect us to an often forgotten past. They also testify to the longstanding influence coffee and coffee shops have had on science, philosophy, politics, the arts, culture, and humanity. I’ll see you next time to continue our review with famous coffee houses of the 18th century.
Speaking of influence, I’ll just mention how Koffee Kompanions has inspired coffee and tea drinkers in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom who want to keep their beverages hotter, longer. Our innovative company uses the power of thermal science and the beauty of fabric design to create attractive, effective French press and teapot cozies, a takeout cup cozy, a beautiful cup cap, and the best ice cream koozie on the market. Drop on by and check them out online.
Resources:
Peter Baskerville, The world's most historic coffee houses, Feb 14, 2013, https://bit.ly/2xsn19P
Beanbox.com, “The 5 Oldest Coffee Houses in the World,” (date unknown) https://bit.ly/2xrHvQ0
Amy Freeborn, “London’s Original and All-Inspiring Coffee House,” (date unknown) https://bit.ly/3cqFKkN
Jill Krasny, “12 Stunning Cafés Every History Buff Needs to Visit,” TravelandLeisure.com, March 22, 2017 https://bit.ly/3bgGadl
Samuel Parker, “The Five Oldest Coffee Shops in the World,” Feb 11, 2020 https://bit.ly/2KcdhDc
Dirk Puehl, “The "House under the Blue Bottle" and Viennese Coffee House Myths,” January 17, 2015 https://bit.ly/34Ik5lh
Wikipedia, “Queen’s Lane Coffee House.” https://bit.ly/3bl0JFu
William Harrison Ukers, All About Coffee, pp. 5-51. As reported at https://bit.ly/3cmUQHW .