The Coffee House

When you want to go out and enjoy a delicious cup of coffee, you probably go to a coffee house, shop or café. And you know you aren’t just getting a coffee fix, you are also enjoying the social atmosphere around drinking coffee. In fact, in small towns, coffee houses can be the focal point of the town.

In many coffee houses, especially in Europe, you can take advantage of the outdoor seating to watch the world go by or for free internet access.

THE HISTORY OF THE COFFEE HOUSE

The coffee house is an important part of coffee history. It originated in the Middle East, with the first recorded coffee house opening sometime in the 15th century in Arabia. Coffee houses spread with the popularity of coffee, popping up in cities such as Mecca, Damascus and Cairo. These coffee houses were often described as lively places where men gathered to socialize and play games.

The first coffee house in Europe was in Venice (opened 1645) and others soon followed in London, Paris and elsewhere. These were popular public hang-outs for men, especially those in fashionable and intellectual circles.

For example, the Café Procope in Paris, opened in 1686 and still operating today, was a major meeting point for the great thinkers of the French Enlightenment such as Rousseau and Voltaire, and later for revolutionaries like Robespierre and Marat.

America’s first coffee house opened in Boston in 1676. In the politically turbulent 1960s, coffee houses were visited by folk singers and hippies, but by the 1990s, thanks to chains, coffee houses became mainstream.

BRING THE COFFEE HOUSE TO YOUR HOUSE!

The next time you want to get your friends together for a few hours, why not give your house a bit of coffee shop atmosphere? Make sure you have comfortable seating options, soft background music and of course – great coffee: NESCAFÉ® TASTER’S CHOICE®!

There are so many varieties of NESCAFÉ®, no matter what you and your friends are in the mood for, you are sure to find the perfect blend.