First Coffee Shop in Constantinople

Through trade, the coffee bean moved from Ethiopia and then to Egypt and Yemen. By the fifteenth century it had reached Persia, Egypt, Turkey and northern Africa. The world’s first coffee shop was opened in 1475, in Constantinople.

The early history of coffee is rife with attempts to suppress its consumption. There were several attempts in the Arab world to prohibit its ingestion, due to its alleged intoxicating effects. However, what really worried local authorities were the newly established coffeehouses, which became hotbeds of lively debate and discussion.

In 1511, the governor of Mecca, Khair Beg, tried to ban coffee because he feared that its use would foster opposition to his rule. On hearing of this, the Sultan of Cairo demanded that the drink should not have been banned without his permission. In 1512, Beg was accused of embezzlement and the Sultan had him executed.

Coffee – The Wine of Islam

All attempts to close coffeehouses ultimately failed, in part because coffee came to be viewed as preferential to alcohol, which was banned under Islamic law. By the end of the sixteenth century, the “wine of Islam” was accepted by officialdom and was henceforth consumed throughout the Muslim world.

European Coffee

In a similar fashion, the fledgling European coffee industry hit several hurdles after it first began in Italy in 1615. The active trade between the port of Venice and North Africa, Egypt and the East had allowed Venetian merchants to import coffee beans. At first, Venetian coffee was sold in pharmacies as a medical remedy. But Venetians soon learned to roast the beans and brew the drink.

According to historic sources, a group clergy tried to ban coffee drinking by claiming that it was Satanic. However, when they approached Pope Clement VIII (1535-1605), he insisted on first tasting it. After drinking his first hot coffee, the Pope loved the flavour so much that he reasoned that it could not possibly be the work of Satan. Instead, he baptised it and declared it a bonafide Christian beverage.

Coffee Talk

The first European coffeehouses opened in Venice in 1645, in Vienna in 1683 and then quickly spread to France, Germany, Holland and England. Lloyd’s of London started out as a coffeehouse in 1688.
The coffeehouse quickly became a preferred meeting place for social, business and political purposes, and this fueled a raging debate as to its merits and pitfalls.

In 1675 King Charles II, who, like his Arab counterparts distrusted the freedom of speech that coffeehouses inspired, issued his Proclamation for the suppression of Coffee houses. The result was a public backlash because by that time coffee had become a central part of Britain’s social and economic fabric.

In France, during the 18th century, also known as the Age of Reason or The Enlightenment, people met in the popular coffeehouses of Paris and discussed the new philosophies of reason, nature, happiness, progress and liberty, the basic tenets of the French Revolution.

In fact, both the French and American revolutions were largely plotted and unleashed from coffeehouses.

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