The Religious and Intellectual Origins of the Coffee House
Perhaps the earliest chapter in the story of coffee and fellowship begins in Yemeni Sufi communities in the 15th century. It was within these communities that Sufi mystics and the broader community of Muslims drank the beverage ritualistically so that they would remain alert during midnight prayers and achieve “spiritual intoxication” while practicing dhikr, or ritualistic chants of God’s names. According to the 16th century historian Abd Al-Qadir al-Jazīrī, Sufi monks would meet twice weekly in a special spiritual assembly. The drink was prepared in a large clay vessel and that at some designated point in the evening it would be ladled out to each person as they chanted. This “drinking in unison” created a spiritual bond between those tasked with nocturnal responsibilities. It also created a “certain nimbleness of the mind” during their sleepy-time devotions and therefore a diminished desire for rest. Indeed, this reduction in desire is reflected in the Arabic word qahwa, from which we get our words ‘coffee’ and ‘cafe.’ Etymologically, the word was also used in reference to wine as it was believed to suppress hunger.
Eventually, the Middle East birthed more public consumption spots called the Qahveh Khaneh. These “diminished desire houses” (or, “coffee houses”) did not just provide a place for consumption--they fostered cultural spaces for music, games, poetry, local news, networking, and political and philosophical debate. The Arabic coffee houses were known regionally as ”Schools of the Wise,” given their reputation to be fundamental in cultural formation.
By the mid-17th century, coffee hit the shores of Europe and it did not take long to see what the Middle Eastern Sufis--and the goats of Ethiopia long before them--saw in the roasted bean. The first coffeehouse (bottega del caffee) in Europe opened in Venice in 1645, with Oxford, England opening one in 1650 under the guidance of a Lebanese man known as “Jacob the Jew.” In 1652, Pasqua Rosée, opened another one in London.
Like “Schools of the Wise”, coffee houses across England became known as “penny universities” for their reputation as learning centers in which one’s mind might be expanded for the price of a cup. This similarity between Middle Eastern Qahveh Khaneh’s to European “coffee houses” should not be ignored nor relegated to coincidence. Arguably (and presumptively), if the Middle East did not develop the concept of the coffee house as a center for intellectual and civic dialogue, Europe would have gravitated towards this direction at some point. Why? For the simple reason that slow-sipping beverages--whether due to temperature or capacity to inebriate--take time. And when you have time, you talk. The fit between the coffee house and fellowship was simply natural and would have occurred at any time and at any place because it is within the nature of both coffee and humans to make it so.
While it is sometimes suggested that tea is the English way and coffee is the American way, the rise of coffee houses in the 17th century says otherwise. England was primarily a coffee culture during this time, as tea was more expensive and reserved for the wealthy. This may have been fortuitous in the history of Western intellectual history which took off like a steam train during the very same time coffee houses were popping up all over the Western world. Perhaps it was the extra dose of caffeine that coffee has over tea (95-200 mg/cup to 20 - 70 mg) that spurred on the Enlightenment. Individuals like Isaac Newton, Edmond Halley, and Robert Hook frequented coffee shops. In Paris, Rousseau, Diderot, and those who would write the Enclyclopedistes (and massive reference work aimed at making all human knowledge public) frequently met at The Café Procope, helping redirect the mystical drink of Islamic religious expression into what came to be called “the drink of reason.” It was here that Voltaire reportedly drank 40-50 cups of coffee a day, as the spearhead of the modern (and dissentious) Enlightenment. The modern philosopher Jürgen Habermas referred to the coffee house during this time as “a kind of social intercourse that, far from presupposing equality of status, disregarded status altogether.”
The intellectual fellowship at coffee houses in England ran so deep that they were considered seats of “political unrest,” which resulted in a failed attempt by Charles II to ban them outright. An order issued on December 29th, 1675 stated that the establishments had become meeting places for “idle and disaffected persons” and “malicious and scandalous reports” that threatened political and social stability. The order was ultimately rescinded due to immediate backlash from proprietors, merchants, and customers.
Coffee houses did not entirely deviate from the spiritual bedrock which it emerged from. Though secular (and often anti-religious) thinkers used coffee as fuel for the Enlightenment and it became such a symbol of political freedom and expression that the American colonies would eventually choose coffee over tea as a symbol of their own independence and differention, they did maintain critical non-rationalistic and non-political qualities still oriented in fellowship.
Many coffee houses functioned as “lay conventicles” (informal churches) where clergy and laypeople explored the ins and outs of spiritual life. Anglicans, Puritans, and Catholics all engaged in sermonizing and theological debate outside of the more strict structures of the Church. But again, in line with Habermas’ verdict, this was largely without social casts. One Hamburg chronicle remarked, “particular burgers, learned and unlearned men, clerics and non-clerics, young and old, men and women, whoever could afford it, brewed this drink…and drank to each other in the morning.” In fact, it became such a hovel of non-distinction that many of those who were religiously nonconformists felt comradery and acceptance within the walls.
But the religious attraction was not just for dissidents. Anglican reformers (like William Wilberforce, the man who would spearhead the end of slavery in Britain), met frequently at coffee houses like White Hard in London to discuss missionary efforts. Similarly, Methodists--following John Wesley--integrated coffee houses into community life. Sarah Dod’s Coffee house, near Ipswich, served as an informal extension of the town’s chapel and served as a reading for Methodist literature.
The fellowship of coffee was intricately linked with sobriety, which was attractive to those who disdained bars and alcohol consumption. While this was not restricted to religious communities, groups like the Puritans had formal outlaws on alcohol and most other religious groups at least preached (though not always practiced) alcohol consumption in moderation and coffee proved to be more than a welcome substitute as a social catalyst.
It was for all these reasons that coffee houses grew in popularity, especially in the West. For example, in 1663, there were a mere 82 coffee houses located in London. Seventy years later that number had increased to 551. They became public convention halls, meeting spaces, philosophical think tanks, public forums, monasteries for the unsanctified, planning societies for revolutionaries, labs for testing new ideas, and debate forums for those who--in all other social structures--would be enemies.
Coffee houses have not changed in this respect. During Covid-19 I asked an employee of our coffee shop (not yet a literal coffee house) what he saw people coming to our location for. I had insinuated that though restrictions had allowed for people to come in to grab beverages and leave, we still had a sixty percent downturn in our business from pre-Covid days. So as we watched a slow trickle of returning customers return with regulations, distance measuring tape, and mandatory masking, we did begin to see something that pre-Covid we did not see clearly: “They are coming to be together,” he said. “I see people praying, debating, and encouraging each other. They are starting projects, solving relationships. Those that come by themselves usually come with a book or something they are passionate about.”
