Coffee Information

English Coffee


With English Tea being a very familiar term, English coffee may seem as contrary a term as Arctic bananas; however, England's impact on the coffee trade and the world of business is undeniable. The history of English coffee began in 1650 at Oxford University when a Lebanese immigrant opened the first coffeehouse on campus.

Initially, coffee was seen as novelty and a snake oil, if you will, as the proprietor touted many incredible medical claims. His English coffee was said to aid in digestion, cure headaches, coughs, dropsy, gout, scurvy and even prevent miscarriages. About the only claim that was accurate was that English coffee prevented drowsiness.

By 1700, however, coffee had become a very popular beverage and there were more than two thousand coffeehouses in London. Coffeehouses occupied more retail space and paid more rent than any other trade. They came to be known as Penny Universities, because for the price of a cup of coffee, one penny, a person could sit for hours and engage in stimulating conversation with educated people.

Each coffeehouse specialized in a different clientele. In one, physicians could be consulted. Other's catered to lawyers, actors, army officers, or clergy. English coffee became the beverage of business and one coffeehouse in particular grew into one of the worlds largest and most well known companies. Edward Lloyd's coffeehouse catered primarily to seafarers and merchants and he regularly prepared "ships' lists" for underwriters who met there to offer insurance to the ship captains. And so began Lloyd's of London, the famous insurance company.

Prior to the popularity of English coffee, beer, or ale, was the morning beverage of choice among the working class. The pubs and taverns were filled early in the morning with workers who stopped in for a few pints of camaraderie before heading off to the factories and shops around London.

One English writer wrote in 1624, "They flock to the taverns to dizzy their brains and a productionless society is the result." Fifty years later another writer credited English coffee with stimulating the economy as he wrote, "Coffee drinking hath caused a greater sobriety than has ever been seen in the business of London."

By the late 18th century the buzz of English coffee subsided and tea became the preferred British drink, due much in part to the outcry of women, who were excluded from the all-male society of the coffeehouse and complained loudly. A group of angry coffeehouse widows filed a petition with the English government to ban coffee on the grounds that their men were never at home and their duties as husband and father were being neglected. English coffee was not banned but the outcry did have repercussions on the coffeehouse business and men returned to the taverns instead.

© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.

Randy has more articles on coffee such as Colombian Coffee, Are Coffee Enemas the Real Thing? and Arabica Coffee.


MORE RESOURCES:

Seattle Post Intelligencer

DANGER: HOT COFFEE
Cullman Times Online, AL - 1 hour ago
Coffee’s 76-yard run was the only offensive touchdown scored by the second-ranked Crimson Tide during Saturday’s 17-14 win over Kentucky. ...
Video: Number 2 'Bama Edges Kentucky 17-14 AssociatedPress
Coffee, McClain Are Consistent Honorees BamaMag.com
Cup o' Joe: Coffee runs No. 2 Bama past Kentucky The Associated Press
Montgomery Advertiser - The Birmingham News - al.com
all 538 news articles


Peet’s Coffee & Tea names new board member
Bizjournals.com, NC - 6 hours ago
Peet’s Coffee & Tea Inc. has elected former McKinsey & Co. executive Ted Hall to its board of directors, the company said Monday. ...
Peet's Coffee & Tea names new board member CNNMoney.com
Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc. Elects Ted W. Hall to Board of Directors Earthtimes (press release)
Ted Hall, who tried to shake up Mondavi, gets Peet's seat Los Angeles Times
Bizjournals.com
all 18 news articles


Earthtimes (press release)

Adina to Launch "Natural Highs(TM)" Coffee Energy Drink
MarketWatch - 9 hours ago
AdinaWorld.com, announces a national launch of its new certified Fair Trade, all natural coffee energy drinks at Whole Foods Market stores in October ...
Cocaine energy drink makers attacked WalesOnline
Warning: Energy Drinks Stealing Sleep and Sanity Huffington Post
Adina to Launch "Natural Highs(TM)" Coffee Energy Drink International Business Times
all 10 news articles


Kick Butt Coffee Stays up for Late Night Music
MarketWatch - 7 hours ago
Since opening in February, Kick Butt Coffee has reinvented what it means to be a coffee shop in Austin: serving coffee, wine, beer and liquor in a ...


World's Most Famous Coffee Cup for Sale
MarketWatch - 9 hours ago
But as corner diners gave way to upscale coffee shops, declining demand caused the manufacturer to discontinue the iconic cup. Not to worry. ...


Sydney Morning Herald

7-Eleven again offers coffee cup election poll
Detroit Free Press, United States - 20 hours ago
You can vote with your heart, you can vote with your intellect, and, in what's becoming a 7-Eleven tradition, you can vote with your coffee. ...
Video: Character Attacks CBS
Voters can cast their presidential vote through their coffee ABC15.com (KNXV-TV)
Campaign Extremes in the Ohio-Kentucky Heartland Huffington Post
FinalCall.com
all 1,910 news articles


Bleacher Report

Coffee, Crimson Tide perk up in nick of time
Boston Globe, United States - Oct 5, 2008
AP / October 5, 2008 Glen Coffee rushed for 218 yards, Leigh Tiffin kicked a 24-yard field goal with 2:12 left, and No. 2 Alabama held on for a 17-14 win ...
Vanderbilt notches best post-war start eTaiwan News
Vanderbilt goes 5-0 for first time in 65 years The Gazette (Montreal)
Commodores upset Auburn; Alabama holds off Kentucky San Francisco Chronicle
Detroit Free Press - The Birmingham News - al.com
all 35 news articles


Kapow Coffee of SLUT fame must leave South Lake Union location
Seattle Post Intelligencer - 3 hours ago
A 10-year-old South Lake Union coffee shop that serves as unofficial headquarters for resistance to big-money development will have to leave its location at ...


Palin and the Misquoted Coffee Cup
FAIR - 54 minutes ago
It's a misquote because Albright--and the coffee cup--said "help," not "support." But regardless, it's Palin who's applying the sentiment to the ...


Agreement on coffee pricing pushed to next year
Business Daily Africa, Kenya - 10 hours ago
October 7, 2008: The signing of a new international agreement seeking to cushion 25 million small coffee farmers who produce 70 per cent of the world’s ...

Coffee - Google News

home | site map
© 2006