The History of Coffee Houses

Today, the idea of a coffee house usually brings to mind a cozy place that serves delicious coffee. So how did the coffee house get started?

The first record of a public place serving coffee dates back to 1475. Kiva Han was the first coffee shop, located in Istanbul, Türkiye. Coffee was a very important item during that period. It was even legal in Türkiye for a woman to divorce her husband if he could not supply her with enough coffee.

The idea of adding cream and sugar to coffee came into fashion in Europe around 1529, when the first coffee house in Europe was established. Vienna was invaded by the Turkish army. They left many bags of coffee beans behind when they fled the city. An Austrian who had lived in Türkiye was the only person who recognized the value in the beans. He opened a coffee house and introduced the idea of filtering coffee, as well as softening coffee with milk and sugar.

Coffee establishments continued to spread, with the first one opening up in Britain in 1652. And it was in an English coffee house that the word "tips" was first used. A jar with a sign reading "To Insure Prompt Service" sat on the counter. You put a coin in the jar to be served quickly.

The British called their coffee houses "penny universities," because that was the price for the coffee and the social upper-class of businessmen were found there. From there, the idea spread further through Europe and eventually to America. The role of the American coffee houses was the same as that in England: hotspots for the business community.

And who could forget the most popular coffee house chain of all, Starbucks? They opened their first store in 1971, in Seattle, and have taken the world by storm with over 8,000 locations.