Coffee HouseA popular Arab legend tells of Sheik Omar, who experimented with brewing some coffee berries, he found during his travels during his exile from Mocha. Thanks in past to the beneficial effects of the caffeine, the Sheik survived his exile and upon his return to Mocha, introduced his new way of preparing his drink. As methods to make coffee became more refined, the popularity of the drink spread first through coffee houses.
The coffee house itself was not unique to London. As Francis Baron noted in his Sylva Sylvarum in 1627, “They have in Turkey a drink called coffee, and they take it and sit at in their coffee houses, which are like our Taverns “.Yet in London the coffee house was unique in the extent to which it entrenched itself as an institution in the social, cultural, commercial and political life of the city.” Foreigners remarked that the coffee houses are that which specially distinguished London from all other cities”, wrote Thomas Macaulay in his history of England that the coffee house was the London’s home and that those who wished to find a gentleman commonly asked, not whether he lived in Fleet street or Chancery lane, but whether he frequented the Glacial or the Rainbow. As the eminent social historian G.M. Trevelyan observed, “The Universal library of speech of the English nation … was the quintessence of the Coffee house life”.
The coffee house years were vital and expansive ones for the London business. This was history, even today coffee connoisseurs cannot live without the visiting the coffee houses frequently. One of the famous coffee houses is Steel City Coffee House. The famous and most favorite blend of coffees which is proffered mostly is Express/Latte/cappuccino/Frozen coffee.
A Coffee house, café etc have some characteristics of bars and restaurants. In the Muslim world you also find Shish being smoked in hookahs. In other parts of the world including Canada you will even find Cannabis smoked as well. The essential part from the beginning has been social functions where folks concrete to talk, write, read play or simply to while away the time alone or in groups. Then there is a coffee house as social event for raising awareness for some cause whether political, artistic, Amnesty International sponsors coffee houses specific to their cause. This latter part is closer to what coffee house Arts and Culture is focused on unlike other cool sites such as live journal or my space, coffee house is about “live in the venues”. Check out the wonderful Wikipedia where you can get more details and history on coffee house the events. A coffee house, coffee shop, or cafe shares some of the characteristics of a bar, some characteristics of restaurants, but it is different from cafeteria. As the name suggest, coffee houses focus on providing coffee and tea as well as light snacks. Food choices range from pastries to muffins to soups and sand-witches. In some countries, cafes more closely resemble restaurants, offering a range of hot meals and possibly bring license to serve alcohol. Many coffee house in the Muslim world, and in Muslim districts in the west offer Shisha the powdered tobacco smoked through a hookah.
In establishments where it is tolerated- which may be found notably in the Netherlands in Christiania and in certain parts of Canada – Cannabis may be smoked as well. From a cultural stand point, a coffee house largely serves as centers of social interaction: The coffee house provides social members with a place to congregate. Talk, write, read, entertain one another, or pass the time.
Since the sixteenth century the coffee house has served as a social gathering place in Middle Eastern Countries where men assemble to read books, play chess, backgammon and just pass their time. In modern Egypt, Turkey and Syria, a coffee house attracts many males to watch TV etc.
Coffee house in modern world is loved by youngsters and senior citizens which has become a good source of entertainment.
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