A Penny For Your Cuppa: How Coffeehouses Revolutionized Coffee Consumption in England’s Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

Abstract

Amid England’s 17^th and 18^th centuries, coffee’s Turkish origins catalyzed a stark polarization of coffee consumption due to Turkish xenophobia. England’s long-regarded reservations towards Turkish commodities only changed because of one revolutionary institution: the coffeehouse. Unlike classically popular taverns, coffeehouses were unique, progressive establishments where patrons of all classes and genders safely shared news, debated politics, and discussed new discoveries in academia over a beverage costing mere pennies to consume. By adopting an accessible and intellectual premise, coffeehouses eclipsed England’s xenophobic predispositions towards Turkey – forever revolutionizing the social sphere and English coffee consumption.