Rise of the London Coffee Trade

Timeline

1. 1652St. Michael's Alley, Cornhill, London · LondonIn 1652 merchant Pasqua Rosée from the Levant opened England's first coffeehouse on St. Michael's Alley, Cornhill, London. The shop initially operated as a tent and soon became famous for attracting large numbers of merchants and professionals. Rosée also printed advertising handbills describing coffee's benefits and origins, among the earliest examples of commercial advertising print in Britain.
2. 1653–1660London · LondonBetween 1653 and 1660 coffeehouses multiplied rapidly across London's districts and spread to cities such as Oxford and Cambridge. Serving no alcoholic drinks and charging only a penny for entry, they became neutral social spaces shared by men of all classes. Merchants exchanged trade intelligence (Lloyd's insurance business began in a coffeehouse), politicians debated current affairs, and writers and scholars argued ideas; this 'penny university' phenomenon profoundly advanced the formation of England's early public sphere and accelerated coffee's commercialization as a bulk import commodity.