The origin of coffee is debated on a regular basis, but one of the many tales that is told is of a sixth century Ethopian named Kaldi.
His herd of goats were weary and tired of searching for greener pastures that they began eating the sweet red berries from strange bushes. The old billy goats started getting frisky with the prancing nannies. Kaldi tried the berries and was later spotted dancing with his goats by a group of monks. Soon the monks began to boil the bean themselves and use the liquid to stay awake during all-night ceremonies.
Consumption of coffee was outlawed in Mecca in 1511 and in Cairo in 1532 but in the face of the drink’s immense popularity, the decree was later rescinded. In 1554, the first coffeehouse in Istanbul opened.
The coffeehouse spread rapidly in Europe and America after that, with first coffeehouses opening in Boston in 1670 and in Paris in 1671. Largely through the efforts of the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company coffee became available in Europe in the 16th century.
The first coffeehouse in England was set up in Oxford in 1650 by Jacob, a Turkish Jew. The first coffeehouse in London was opened two years later in St. Michael’s Alley in Cornhill. By 1675, there were more than 3,000 coffeehouses in England.
Women were not allowed in coffeehouses, and in London, the anonymous 1674 “Women’s Petition Against Coffee” complained: “Öthe Excessive Use of that Newfangled, Abominable, Heathenish Liquor called COFFEE [Ö] has [Ö] Eunucht our Husbands, and Crippled our more kind Gallants, that they are become as Impotent, as Age. “ Needless to say, just the opposite has since been proven!
We have revived the Victorian tradition of coffee houses as places of dating and naughtiness. We have history & sociology students visiting us as part of their courses. We have also inspired the “Domme Café” drawing by Sardax (see below).
