Coffee shops have become an integral part of modern day living.

They not only serve as convenient locations where friends meet and businessmen clinch deals; but coffee shops are also sanctuaries where tired bodies and stressed out minds can be rejuvenated with a strong cup of java. Coffee shops are however not a product of modern society as they have been around for thousands of years.

The first coffee shops welcomed coffee drinkers in the mid-sixteenth century in Constantinople, Cairo and Mecca and were referred to as coffee houses. These establishments soon became very popular meeting places for playing chess, singing, dancing and of course, debating political and social issues of the time. Up until then coffee had not been cultivated (or even heard of )
in other parts of the world. Even though the Arabs guarded their “coffee secret” jealously, it was inevitable that the rest of the world would sooner or later share in the coffee phenomenon.

In 1616, Dutch spies managed to successfully smuggle out a few coffee plants from Mecca, which they planted and eventually started cultivating in their colonies in Java. From there coffee spread around the world and increased in popularity, especially in European countries. The first English coffee house opened in Oxford in 1650 and two years later the first coffee house in London opened. The popularity of these coffee houses grew in such a way that by 1715 there were more than 2000 coffee houses in London alone. These early English coffee houses were often situated on the second floor of a building and consisted of a single large room with several tables and chairs. The coffee houses were popular meeting places for people from all walks of life and soon become hot spots for political and cultural discussions which often went on into the midnight hours.

Coffee as a drink has managed to adapt itself miraculously through time. Today, coffee shops are still popular meeting places but the coffee shop landscape has changed somewhat. The selection of food and drink on offer is vast with anything from a “skinny decaf hazelnut latte” to a “con panna macchiato” on the menu. The variety of meal options also seem to be endless. In other parts of the world like Europe and the United States, coffee shops are often relatively small spaces (think Starbucks) with very little or no seating available for the customers. The reason for this is that retail space in highly populated cities come at a premium, as well as the fact that they tend to specialize mostly in “take away” products.

Perhaps, on your next day off from work, you could head on down to your local coffee shop. Armed with a good book or magazine, find yourself a quite table in the corner and spend a few hours submerged in your own thoughts as
the world drifts by unnoticed. It does wonders for the soul…