I wonder if you realize as you lounge on the sofa or comfortable armchair of your neighborhood coffee shop, gently sipping a cappuccino or a frothy latte, just what a significant history the coffee shop has.
The word coffee probably derives from the name of the Ethiopian province of "Kaffa", although some would argue the derivation is from the Arabic word awah", meaning coffee. However, coffee was introduced into Europe by the Turks and the first record of a coffee house dates back to 1475. The location was Constantinople which has become the modern city of Istanbul.
The Turks did not drink Cappuccino, Latte or Mocha but instead drank the brew black and strong,. And it would have been served in a traditional Turkish coffee pot, called an ibrik.
The first British Coffee House was called the "Turks Head". Although the name was more redolent of a public house, it did acknowledge the role the Turks played in introducing this beverage to Western Europe. The coffee here would have been filtered as the strong draft favored by the Turks proved too much for the refined British palate.
To tone down the flavors Londoners added milk and sugar too. However, coffee shops like the Turks Head soon sprung up all over the place. These cafes became talking shops where the middle classes and intelligentsia would meet not only to drink coffee but to talk, argue discuss ideas and above all politics.
Quick to follow the fashion set in motion by "The Turks Head", was a coffee house started by a gentleman called Edward Lloyd, which became a successful business centre. It became home to a group of members who set up an insurance company that lasts to this day - Lloyds of London.
The members or "Names" agreed to insure ships' cargoes for a fee. If the cargo was lost, stolen or destroyed in any way the members of Lloyds coffee house agreed to compensate the owners of the cargo for their loss.
By the way the
espressos, and cappuccinos that you drink today come to you by way of Italy where a man named Gaggia invented the espresso machine in 1946 - directly after World War II. The strong espresso brew or liquor is now the basis of the specialty coffees that you drink as you muse over the morning paper in one of the many coffee shops that have become so popular the world over.
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