Blog

A coffee filter is a filter used for various coffee brewing methods including but not limited to drip coffee filtering. Filters made of paper (disposable), cloth (reusable), or plastic, metal or porcelain (permanent) are used.^{[nb 1]} Paper and cloth filters require the use of some kind of filter holder, whereas filters made out of other materials may present an integral part of the holder or not, depending on construction. The filter allows the liquid coffee to flow through, but traps the coffee grounds.

Overview

[edit]

Paper filters remove oily components called diterpenes (like cafestol and kahweol).^[1] Metal, nylon or porcelain mesh filters do not remove these components.^{[2][nb 1]} These organic compounds, present in unfiltered coffee, have anti-inflammatory properties.^{[3][nb 2]} Several studies also indicate that the mild consumption of paper-filtered coffee may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to reducing these compounds.^[4][5]

Coffee filters of paper are made from about 100 g/m² filter paper. The raw materials (pulp) for the filter paper are coarse long fiber, often from fast-growing trees, e.g. Melitta uses up to 60% of bambus in their filters since 1998.^[6] Both bleached and unbleached filters are made.^[7]

Typically, coffee filters are made up of filaments approximately 20 micrometres wide, which allow particles through that are less than approximately 10 to 15 micrometres.^[8][9]

Some baristas claim that paper filters exhibit a “paperish” taste^[10] and recommend to wash out the filter with a flush of hot water before filling the ground coffee into the filter.

Since paper filters filter out some components the resulting coffee is said to taste somewhat fruitier compared to permanent filters.

For a filter to be compatible with a filter holder (in the case of drip coffee preparation also called a dripper) or coffee maker, the filter needs to be a specific shape and size.

Disposable paper filters

[edit]

Main article: Filter paper

History of paper filters

[edit]

In 1782, Johann Georg Krünitz described a then-new method to extract coffee utilizing blotting paper in a (tinned) metal filter cone shape like.^{[11][12][13]: 139–140 [14]}

In Germany and the Netherlands, filter paper inserts were used in narrow conical metal filter holders called “Hamburger Spitztrichter” (Hamburg filter) to extract drip coffee.^{[15]: 977 [12]: 77ff. [13]: 139} In 1785, a silver filter was manufactured by Johann Christopher Hellmers, suggesting that porcelain versions existed even earlier.^{[16]: 63–64} Hamburg filters made out of (enameled) metal or porcelain were still very common in the early 1900s in Germany.^{[16]: 162–163}

In 1847, Elard Römershausen [d] (aka Elard Romershausen and Elard [von] Rommershausen) experimented with paper filters while constructing an early “air press coffee machine”.^{[13]: 137, 139}

In 1885, Heinrich Böhnke-Reich (aka Boehnke-Reich) warned of using old wall paper as coffee filters,^{[nb 1]} but favorably described sheets of thick wool-style greyish paper which could be cut into shape for use as quick filters in a conical filter holder.^{[17]: 107–120 [16]: 162}

In 1894, the Wilda’sche coffee filter device by Eugen Wilda used single-use cloth filter bags, which, in the corresponding patent, were considered to be superior to paper filter bags presumably already in use at the time.^{[16]: 163 [13]: 139}

On 8 July 1908, the first commercial paper coffee filter was a 94 mm round filter disk devised by the German entrepreneur Melitta Bentz.^{[13]: 140– [18]} She wanted to remove the bitter taste caused by overbrewing.^[18][19] She patented her invention and formed a company, Melitta, to sell the coffee filters (in a format and size later named “1“^{[nb 3]}), hiring her husband and two sons to assist her as the first employees.^[13][20]

Filter shapes and sizes

[edit]

Cone-, fan- or boat-shaped filters

[edit]

Melitta filter systems and derivatives

[edit]

Since 1930^[21]/1931, there was a conical paper coffee filter named “Blitz-Filter” (English: flash filter) featuring rims manufactured by the Berlin-based^{[18]: 33–34, 36} Blitz-Filter GmbH,^[22] a filter paper manufacturer, holding a D.R.G.M. utility patent^[22] on their filter.^[21] In 1931, Paul Ciupka proposed conical paper coffee filters,^{[23]: 214 [13]: 141} which reportedly led to the construction of another coffee filter named “Brasil Kaffeefilter” at the Göttinger Aluminiumwerke [de] (now Alcan) in 1932.^{[16]: 166 [13]: 141 [21]} It was recommended by the press.^[24] Melitta bought the rights to the Göttingen D.R.G.M. filter patent^{[16]: 166 [13]: 141 [21]} and, still in 1932,^[25] introduced their Schnell-Filter (English: quick filter),^{[13]: 141 [18]: 33–34, 36 [21]} a cone-shaped filter holder looking almost identical to the Brasil filter^[22] with a circular bottom with 8 (later 4) holes suitable for use with squarish sheets of filter paper, which still had to be pressed into shape through a metal cone (a so called Eindrücker (presser), a type of filter shaping tool also known as “negotiator” today).^{[13]: 141–142 [26]} These quick filter holders were manufactured of porcelain or metal, available in sizes named “100”, “101”, “102”, and “103”. This system was available up to 1939.^[27]

Patented in 1935,^[18] Melitta introduced the Filtertüte (English: filter bag) in various sizes in 1936 or 1937^{[13]: 141 [18][6]} In Germany, Melitta holds a trademark on the term “Filtertüte” (English: filter bag) for the conical fan- or boat-shaped paper filter introduced in 1937,^[28] that is why other manufacturers use terms like coffee filter, paper filter, etc.

In 1936,^[22] Melitta also took over the manufacturer of the “Blitz-Filter“.^{[18]: 33–34, 36} The cone-shaped filter holders were refined in 1936 to get a slot-shaped bottom (originally with 4 holes) more suitable for the filter bags, now looking more fan- or boat-shaped.^[18] Over the years the system was expanded to eventually consist of filter bag sizes “100” (for 1–2 cups à ¹⁄₆^[29]–¹⁄₈ litre^{[clarification needed][30][31][29]}), “101” (for 2–3^[30] or 2–4 cups^[31][29][32]), “102” (for 3–6,^[30] 4–6^[33] or 4–8 cups^[31][29]), “103” (for 6–15,^[30] 8–15 cups^[31][29][34] or 10–15^[35]), “104” (for 15–25^[31][29] or 15–30 cups^[30]), “105” (for 25–50^[31][29][36] or 30–60 cups^[30]), “106” (for 50–80^[31][29] or 60–100 cups^[37]), “112” (for 2 cups, with pot mount^{[38][39][40][41][42][43]}) and “123”^[44] (for 6–10 cups^[45]). The system also included special types like tea filters “401” (1–6 cups,^[46] compatible with “101”^[44][29]) and “402” (for 3–9 cups,^[47] compatible with “102”^[48]) and the miniature filter “801” (for 1–2 or 1–3^[49] small cups for children, or 1 normal cup^[49]). Brigitta once marketed a fan- or boat-shaped filter size “502”.^[50][51] A disadvantage of the system was that one had to pour water continuously or several times while the proper amount of necessary water could only be guessed.

Therefore, in 1963^[18] or 1965^[6] Melitta developed a new fan- or boat-shaped filter system with corresponding “1×” nomenclature: In this system the filters are sized big enough so that the whole amount of water (except for the water needed for blooming) can be poured in one go. Consequently, the filter sizes “1×2”, “1×4”, “1×6” and “1×10”^[52] result in 2, 4,^[53] 6, and 10 cups of coffee when filling the filter once. Since these filters only differ in height and have otherwise the exact same geometry, bottom width (about 49 mm) and angle (about 54°), the filter bags are interchangeable between filter holders of different sizes.

Both systems are still in use today in principle, but the sizes “103”, “104”, “105”, “106”, “112”, “123”, “401”, “402”, (“502”,) “801” and “1×10” are no longer manufactured.

Common in the US are fan- or boat-shaped filters “#0” (similar to “100”), “#1” (similar to “101”),^{[nb 3]} “#2” (similar to “102”),^{[nb 4]} “#4” (similar to “1×4”),^{[nb 5]} and “#6” (similar to “1×6”),^{[nb 6][nb 7]} with “#2”, “#4” and “#6” being particularly popular, as well as basket-shaped filters in an 8–12 cup home size and larger restaurant sizes.

Hario filter system

[edit]

The Hario “vector 60” V60 is a cone-shaped brewer (with 60° angle), with ribs along the wall (to prevent the paper sticking and allowing air through) and a single large hole (to allow water to pass through unrestricted).^[54] Hario began designing brewers in 1980; the V60 design was released in 2004.^[54][55] The brewer received the Japanese Good Design Award in 2007^[56] and is used by many of the winners in the World Brewers Cup. In partnership with 2013 World Barista Champion Pete Licata it was further developed into the Hario W60, a brewer with a flat-bottomed mesh filter, to “address the concern baristas have with ‘flat bed’ brewing”.^[57] The Hario Switch combines steeping with drip filtering.

Hario has cone-shaped paper filter bag sizes “01” (for 1 cup), “02” (for 1–4 cups) and “03” (for 1–6 cups).^[58][55]

Other filter shapes

[edit]

Saint Anthony Industries (SAI) introduced a conical filter called “C70” (2018) and a flat-bottom filter “F70” (2019) with a steep 70° angle.

Other Melitta filter sizes include the pyramid filters “202s”, “203”, “206(G)”, “220(G)”, “240(G)” and “270(G)”, round filter disks “1” (94 mm), “1a” (60 mm), “2” (120 mm) and “2b”, and “50”,^[6][59] circle filter rings (for percolators) “3 ¹⁄₂ in.” (89 mm),^[60] “164mm”, “190mm”, “203mm”, “235mm”, “240mm”, “244mm”, “256mm”, “260mm”, “290mm”, “330mm”, “400mm” and “440mm”, prepleated flat-bottom basket filters “(A)250/90” (250 mm/90 mm, also known as “90/250”) and “(A)250/110” (250 mm/110 mm), roll filters “2004” as well as wrap filters (for percolators, 232 × 241 mm).^[61][62] While some of them are still available today, most of them have fallen out of use for long.

A squarish pyramid filter Filtra “602” was available as well.^[63]

Other basket filter sizes include “101/317”, “152/350”, “152/457”, “203/533” and “280/635”.

Other round filter disks include 160 mm, 220 mm, 195 mm, 230 mm.

The Aeropress and Ceado Hoop use round paper filter disks with a diameter of c. 63 mm.

The German Tricolate coffee dripper uses round paper filter disks with a diameter of 88 mm.

The Kanas-based NextLevel drippers use proprietary round disk paper filters as well (95 mm for the LVL-10 and 77 mm for the Pulsar).^[64]

The Hario cold brew dripper Slow Brew “Shizuku” (WDC-6) and Water Dripper Clear (WDW-6) take 58 mm round filter disks.

Chemex filter system

[edit]

The six conical filter holder sizes for the Chemex coffee maker (originally introduced in 1941) and the Funnex utilize two different sizes of paper filters. A half-moon shaped filter paper (bleached: FP-2, unbleached: FP-2N) is used for the 3-cup holders (CM-1, CM-1C, CM-1GH) and the Funnex (CM-FNX), which must be folded before use. The larger holders for 5 (CM-2), 6 (CM-6A, CM-6GH), 8 (CM-3, CM-8A, CM-8GH), 10 (CM-10A, CM-10GH) and 13 cups (CM-4) can alternatively use prefolded square sheets (bleached: FS-100, unbleached: FSU-100), prefolded circle filters (bleached: FC-100) or unfolded circle filters (bleached: FP-1). The paper is 20–30% thicker than regular paper filters.

Other filter parameters and properties

[edit]

Other important coffee filter paper parameters are strength, compatibility, efficiency and capacity.

If a coffee filter is not strong enough, it will tear or rupture, allowing coffee grains through to the coffee pot. Compatibility describes a filter medium’s resistance to degradation by heat and chemical attack; a filter that is not compatible with the liquid passing through it is likely to break down, losing strength (structural failure). Efficiency is the retention of particles in a target (size) category. The efficiency is dictated by the particles or substances to be removed. A large-mesh filter may be efficient at retaining large particles but inefficient at retaining small particles. Capacity is the ability to “hold” previously removed particles while allowing further flow. A very efficient filter may show poor capacity, causing increased resistance to flow or other problems as it plugging up prematurely and increasing resistance or flow problems. A balance between particle capture and flow requirements must be met while ensuring integrity.

Reusable cloth filters

[edit]

Reusable cloth (such as cotton,^{[17][16]: 62, 162} hemp,^{[65][17][66]: 47 [16]: 162} linen,^{[11][65][66]: 47 [16]: 64} silk,^{[65][66]: 47 [16]: 64} wool,^{[65][66]: 47 [16]: 64} hair cloth,^{[11][16]: 64} horse hair,^{[65][66]: 47 [16]: 64} fustian, muslin^[16]: 62 or flannel^[16]: 62) has been used to filter coffee for a very long time.^[11][67][68] Like paper, it strains out the coffee grounds, but the cloth filter allows more of the oil to come through than paper filters.^[69] An example of a cloth filter is the bolsita in Costa Rican chorreador coffee makers.

Permanent filters

[edit]

Permanent filters can be divided into two groups:

The first type integrates the filter sieve with the holding mechanism into one part.

The second type of permanent filters are inserts to be used with a separate filter holder. For this, they are resembling the shape of disposable paper or reusable cloth filters otherwise used with those filter holders. Like them they can exhibit some amount of water bypass.

Permanent metal filters are also used to prepare filtered coffee, including Vietnamese iced coffee and Indian filter coffee. The “French press” (also referred to as cafetière) uses a metal filter. Other types of permanent filters are made of plastic, porous ceramics, or porcelain (like the double-layered cross-slitted strainer made from through-glazed porcelain of Karlsbad-style coffee makers or the special porcelain filter sieves of Büttner system coffee makers).^{[nb 1]}

Filter holders

[edit]

Filter holders are made out of plastic (including Makrolon/Exolon, Tritan, Ecozen), metal (stainless steel, copper, aluminium, emaille), ceramics, porcelain or glass, or, rarely, wood.^{[nb 1]} Most of them are designed to be used with disposable paper and reusable cloth filter inserts, but there is also an after-market of permanent filter inserts made out of plastic, metal or ceramics which can be used in filter holders originally designed for paper or cloth filters.^{[nb 1]} Another type of permanent filters combines the actual filter sieve with its holding mechanism into one integral part.

Filter holders for cone-, fan- or boat- as well as for flat-bottom shaped (paper) filters can be distinguished by features of their mechanical construction, some of which also have a significant influence on taste, brewing time, utility and how (easy) to clean the filter holder:

• filter geometry (Melitta-, Hario-, SAI- or Orea-style filter shape and angle, etc.)
• filter size (depending on filter geometry and system for a different number of cups and/or different pouring styles)
• rib structure (straight (Melitta, Hario), interrupted (Seltmann Weiden [de] or Beem), or origami design), direction (straight down (Melitta), spiral (Hario, Seltmann Weiden, Beem)), spacing (narrow, sparse) and location (whole inner surface of filter cone, only at lower half of filter cone) to influence bypass and clogging
• bottom structure (with or without ridges, conical, apex or flat) to influence channeling and clogging
• number of draining holes (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10 or 12) and diameter (one large hole as for Hario-, one or more equally-sized small holes as for Melitta-style filters, combination of a large center hole with small surrounding holes as for the Torch Mountain dripper, or an adjustable count of holes as with the December dripper)
• material (porcelain, ceramics, stainless steel, copper, aluminium, glass, plastic)^{[nb 1]} and color
• mount (standard plate mount for pots or cups, affixable pot mount (like Melitta 112), ring mount for a coffee stand or tripod, long cylinder outlet to fit Thermos bottles (like Fröfilt K, Alfi Aroma Plus, or Gefu Sandro / Cilio #4 filters, or the Friesland filter adapter), single-cup filter mount, or integrated with coffee pot (like with Melitta Diabolo^[26]))
• type of handle (none, style of handle, number of grips)
• special features like stopper valves (as for Melitta 401/402 tea filter holders, the Clever Dripper, the Bonavita Immersion Dripper, the Goat Story GINA, the December Dripper, the Hario Switch, the Melitta Amano, the NextLevel Pulsar, or the Sworksdesign Bottomless Dripper) for steep & release brewing, cup-viewing windows (as for Zero Japan Bee House filters,^[70] Melitta filter holders since 2018, or the Le Crueset dripper), anti-dribbling “tripod” plate design, design for simultaneous pouring into one or two cups (as for Melitta filter holders since 2018), double-walled design for better thermal insulation (as for Melitta Oslo Form 23 “102 M” filters,^[71] KPM Café Berlin LAB filters #2/#4,^[72][73] the Seltmann Weiden No Limits Barista filter #2,^[74][75] the Melitta 111th Anniversary Set filter 102,^[76][77] the Fellow Stagg X/XF drippers, the Chemex Funnex, the notNeutral Gino dripper, the Villeroy & Boch Coffee Passion V60 filter,^[78] the Brewista Tornado Duo filters, or the Etkin 8-cup and 2-cup drippers), radial water feeding (like with the Ceado Hoop), or a collapsible design for easier storage
• accessories like a water spreader or cover lid or top-plate to help water distribution and reduce the temperature decline during pouring, a saucer to catch coffee droplets after use, a mounting stand, or coffee chilling stones.

Metal and porcelain filter holders store more heat than glass or plastic filters and therefore should be pre-heated to avoid too large temperature drops during pouring.

A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (French: [kafe] ^ⓘ), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Some coffeehouses may serve iced coffee among other cold beverages, such as iced tea, as well as other non-caffeinated beverages. A coffeehouse may also serve food, such as light snacks, sandwiches, muffins, cakes, breads, pastries, and/or donuts. Many doughnut shops in the Canadian and U.S. serve coffee as an accompaniment to doughnuts.^[1][2] In continental Europe, some cafés even serve alcoholic beverages. Coffeehouses range from owner-operated small businesses to large multinational corporations. Some coffeehouse chains operate on a franchise business model, with numerous branches across various countries around the world.

While café may refer to a coffeehouse, the term “café” can also refer to a diner, British café (also colloquially called a “caff”), “greasy spoon” (a small and inexpensive restaurant), transport café, teahouse or tea room, or other casual eating and drinking place.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} A coffeehouse may share some of the same characteristics of a bar or restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer shisha (actually called nargile in Levantine Arabic, Greek, and Turkish), flavored tobacco smoked through a hookah. An espresso bar is a type of coffeehouse that specializes in serving espresso and espresso-based drinks.

From a cultural standpoint coffeehouses largely serve as centers of social interaction: a coffeehouse provides patrons with a place to congregate, talk, read, write, entertain one another, or pass the time, whether individually or in small groups. A coffeehouse can serve as an informal social club for its regular members.^[8] As early as the 1950s Beatnik era and the 1960s folk music scene, coffeehouses have hosted singer-songwriter performances, typically in the evening.^[9] The digital age saw the rise of the Internet café along similar principles.

Etymology

[edit]

The most common English spelling of café is the French word for both coffee and coffeehouse;^[11][12] it was adopted by English-speaking countries in the late 19th century.^[13] The Italian spelling, caffè, is also sometimes used in English.^[14] In Southern England, especially around London in the 1950s, the French pronunciation was often facetiously altered to /kæf/ and spelt caff.^[15]

The English word coffee and French word café (coffeehouse) both derive from the Italian caffè^[11][16]—first attested as caveé in Venice in 1570^[17]—and in turn derived from Arabic qahwa (قهوة). The Arabic term qahwa originally referred to a type of wine, but after the wine ban by Islam, the name was transferred to coffee because of the similar rousing effect it induced.^[18] European knowledge of coffee (the plant, its seeds, and the drink made from the seeds) came through European contact with Turkey, likely via Venetian-Ottoman trade relations.

The English word café to describe a restaurant that usually serves coffee and snacks rather than the word coffee that describes the drink, is derived from the French café. The first café in France is believed to have opened in 1660.^[11] The first café in Europe is believed to have been opened in Belgrade, Ottoman Serbia in 1522 as a Kafana (Serbian coffee house).^[19]

The translingual word root /kafe/ appears in many European languages with various naturalized spellings, including Portuguese, Spanish, and French (café); German (Kaffee); Polish (kawa); Serbian (кафа / kafa); Ukrainian (кава, ‘kava’); and others.

History

[edit]

Ottoman Empire

[edit]

Ottoman miniature of a meddah performing at a coffeehouse

Storyteller (meddah) at a coffeehouse in the Ottoman Empire. The first coffeehouses appeared in the Muslim world in the 15th century.

The first coffeehouses appeared in Damascus. These Ottoman coffeehouses also appeared in Mecca, in the Arabian Peninsula in the 15th century, then spread to the Ottoman Empire‘s capital of Istanbul in the 16th century and in Baghdad. Coffeehouses became popular meeting places where people gathered to drink coffee, have conversations, play board games such as chess and backgammon, listen to stories and music, and discuss news and politics. They became known as “schools of wisdom” for the type of clientele they attracted, and their free and frank discourse.^[20][21]

Coffeehouses in Mecca became a concern of imams who viewed them as places for political gatherings and drinking, leading to bans between 1512 and 1524.^[22] However, these bans could not be maintained, due to coffee becoming ingrained in daily ritual and culture among Arabs and neighboring peoples.^[20] The Ottoman chronicler İbrahim Peçevi reports in his writings (1642–49) about the opening of the first coffeehouse (kiva han) in Istanbul:

Until the year 962 [1555], in the High, God-Guarded city of Constantinople, as well as in Ottoman lands generally, coffee and coffeehouses did not exist. About that year, a fellow called Hakam from Aleppo and a wag called Shams from Damascus came to the city; they each opened a large shop in the district called Tahtakale, and began to purvey coffee.^[23]

Persia

[edit]

The 17th-century French traveler and writer Jean Chardin gave a lively description of the Persian coffeehouse (qahveh khaneh in Persian) scene:

People engage in conversation, for it is there that news is communicated and where those interested in politics criticize the government in all freedom and without being fearful, since the government does not heed what the people say. Innocent games … resembling checkers, hopscotch, and chess, are played. In addition, mollas, dervishes, and poets take turns telling stories in verse or in prose. The narrations by the mollas and the dervishes are moral lessons, like our sermons, but it is not considered scandalous not to pay attention to them. No one is forced to give up his game or his conversation because of it. A molla will stand up in the middle, or at one end of the qahveh-khaneh, and begin to preach in a loud voice, or a dervish enters all of a sudden, and chastises the assembled on the vanity of the world and its material goods. It often happens that two or three people talk at the same time, one on one side, the other on the opposite, and sometimes one will be a preacher and the other a storyteller.^[24]

Europe

[edit]

In the 17th century, coffee appeared for the first time in Europe outside the Ottoman Empire, and coffeehouses were established, soon becoming increasingly popular. The first coffeehouse is said to have appeared in 1632 in Livorno, founded by a Jewish merchant,^[25][26] or later in 1640, in Venice.^[27] In the 19th and 20th centuries in Europe, coffeehouses were very often meeting points for writers and artists.^[28]

Austria

[edit]

The traditional tale of the origins of the Viennese café begins with the mysterious sacks of green beans left behind when the Turks were defeated in the Battle of Vienna in 1683. All the sacks of coffee were granted to the victorious Polish king Jan III Sobieski, who in turn gave them to one of his officers, Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki, a Ukrainian cossack and Polish diplomat of Ruthenian descent. Kulczycki, according to the tale, then began the first coffeehouse in Vienna with the hoard, also being the first to serve coffee with milk. There is a statue of Kulczycki on a street also named after him.

However, it is now widely accepted that the first Viennese coffeehouse was actually opened by an Armenian merchant named Johannes Diodato (also known as Johannes Theodat). He opened a registered coffeehouse in Vienna in 1685.^[29][30]Fifteen years later, four other Armenians owned coffeehouses.^[30] The culture of drinking coffee was itself widespread in the country in the second half of the 18th century.

Over time, a special coffee house culture developed in Habsburg Vienna. On the one hand, writers, artists, musicians, intellectuals, bon vivants and their financiers met in the coffee house, and on the other hand, new coffee varieties were always served. In the coffee house, people played cards or chess, worked, read, thought, composed, discussed, argued, observed and just chatted. A lot of information was also obtained in the coffee house, because local and foreign newspapers were freely available to all guests. This form of coffee house culture spread throughout the Habsburg Empire in the 19th century.^[31][32]

Scientific theories, political plans but also artistic projects were worked out and discussed in Viennese coffee houses all over Central Europe. James Joyce even enjoyed his coffee in a Viennese coffee house on the Adriatic in Trieste, then and now the main port for coffee and coffee processing in Italy and Central Europe. From there, the Viennese Kapuziner coffee developed into today’s world-famous cappuccino. This special multicultural atmosphere of the Habsburg coffee houses was largely destroyed by the later National Socialism and Communism and can only be found today in a few places that have long been in the slipstream of history, such as Vienna or Trieste.^{[33][34][35][36]}

England

[edit]

Main article: English coffeehouses in the 17th and 18th centuries

The first coffeehouse in England was set up on the High Street in Oxford in 1650^[37]–1651^{[38][page needed]} by “Jacob the Jew”. A second competing coffee house was opened across the street in 1654, by “Cirques Jobson, the Jew” (Queen’s Lane Coffee House).^[39] In London, the earliest coffeehouse was established by Pasqua Rosée in 1652.^[40] Anthony Wood observed of the coffee houses of Oxford in his Life and Times (1674) “The decay of study, and consequently of learning, are coffee houses, to which most scholars retire and spend much of the day in hearing and speaking of news”.^[41] The proprietor was Pasqua Rosée, the servant of a trader in goods from the Ottoman Empire named Daniel Edwards, who imported the coffee and assisted Rosée in setting up the establishment there.^[42][43]

From 1670 to 1685, the number of London coffeehouses began to increase, and they also began to gain political importance due to their popularity as places of debate.^[44] English coffeehouses were significant meeting places, particularly in London. By 1675, there were more than 3,000 coffeehouses in England.^[45] The coffeehouses were great social levelers, open to all men and indifferent to social status, and as a result associated with equality and republicanism. Entry gave access to books or print news. Coffeehouses boosted the popularity of print news culture and helped the growth of various financial markets including insurance, stocks, and auctions. Lloyd’s of London had its origins in a coffeehouse run by Edward Lloyd, where underwriters of ship insurance met to do business. The rich intellectual atmosphere of early London coffeehouses was available to anyone who could pay the sometimes one penny entry fee, giving them the name of ‘Penny Universities’.^[46]

Though Charles II later tried to suppress London coffeehouses as “places where the disaffected met, and spread scandalous reports concerning the conduct of His Majesty and his Ministers”, the public still flocked to them. For several decades following the Restoration, the wits gathered around John Dryden at Will’s Coffee House, in Russell Street, Covent Garden.^[47] As coffeehouses were believed to be areas where anti-government gossip could easily spread, Queen Mary and the London City magistrates tried to prosecute people who frequented coffeehouses as they were liable to “spread false and seditious reports”. William III‘s privy council also suppressed Jacobite sympathizers in the 1680s and 1690s in coffeehouses as these were the places that they believed harbored plotters against the regimes.^[48]

By 1739, there were 551 coffeehouses in London; each attracted a particular clientele divided by occupation or attitude, such as Tories and Whigs, wits and stockjobbers, merchants and lawyers, booksellers and authors, men of fashion or the “cits” of the old city center. According to one French visitor, Antoine François Prévost, coffeehouses, “where you have the right to read all the papers for and against the government”, were the “seats of English liberty”.^[49]

Jonathan’s Coffee House in 1698 saw the listing of stock and commodity prices that evolved into the London Stock Exchange. Lloyd’s Coffee House provided the venue for merchants and shippers to discuss insurance deals^[repetition], leading to the establishment of Lloyd’s of London insurance market, the Lloyd’s Register classification society, and other related businesses. Auctions in salesrooms attached to coffeehouses provided the start for the great auction houses of Sotheby’s and Christie’s.

In Victorian England, the temperance movement set up coffeehouses (also known as coffee taverns) for the working classes, as a place of relaxation free of alcohol, an alternative to the public house.^[50][51]

Romania

[edit]

In 1667, Kara Hamie, a former Ottoman Janissary from Constantinople, opened the first coffee shop in Bucharest (then the capital of the Principality of Wallachia), in the center of the city, where today sits the main building of the National Bank of Romania.^[52]

France

[edit]

Pasqua Rosée, an Armenian by the name Harutiun Vartian, also established the first coffeehouse in Paris in 1672 and held a citywide coffee monopoly until Procopio Cutò, his apprentice, opened the Café Procope in 1686.^[53] This coffeehouse still exists today and was a popular meeting place of the French Enlightenment; Voltaire, Rousseau, and Denis Diderot frequented it, and it is arguably the birthplace of the Encyclopédie, the first modern encyclopedia.

Hungary

[edit]

The first known cafes in Pest date back to 1714 when a house intended to serve as a Cafe (Balázs Kávéfőző) was purchased. Minutes of the Pest City Council from 1729 mention complaints by the Balázs café and Franz Reschfellner Cafe against the Italian-originated café of Francesco Bellieno for selling underpriced coffee.^[54]

Italy

[edit]

During the 18th century, the oldest extant coffeehouses in Italy were established: Caffè Florian in Venice, Antico Caffè Greco in Rome, Caffè Pedrocchi in Padua, Caffè dell’Ussero in Pisa and Caffè Fiorio in Turin.

Ireland

[edit]

In the 18th century, Dublin coffeehouses functioned as early reading centers and the emergence of circulation and subscription libraries that provided greater access to printed material for the public. The interconnectivity of the coffeehouse and virtually every aspect of the print trade were evidenced by the incorporation of printing, publishing, selling, and viewing of newspapers, pamphlets and books on the premises, most notably in the case of Dick’s Coffee House, owned by Richard Pue; thus contributing to a culture of reading and increased literacy.^[55] These coffeehouses were a social magnet where different strata of society came together to discuss topics covered by the newspapers and pamphlets. Most coffeehouses of the 18th century would eventually be equipped with their own printing presses or incorporate a book shop.^[56]

Today, the term café is used for most coffeehouses – this can be spelled both with and without an acute accent, but is always pronounced as two syllables. The name café has also come to be used for a type of diners that offers cooked meals (again, without alcoholic beverages) which can be standalone or operating within shopping centres or department stores. In Irish usage, the presence or absence of the acute accent does not signify the type of establishment (coffeehouse versus diner), and is purely a decision by the owner: for instance, the two largest diner-style café chains in Ireland in the 1990s were named “Kylemore Cafe” and “Bewley’s Café” – i.e., one written without, and one with, the acute accent.

Portugal

[edit]

The history of coffee in Portugal is usually told to have begun during the reign of king John V, when Portuguese agent Francisco de Melo Palheta supposedly managed to steal coffee beans from the Dutch East India Company and introduce it to Brazil. From Brazil, coffee was taken to Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe, which were also Portuguese colonies at the time. Despite this story, coffee already existed in Angola, having been introduced by Portuguese missionaries. During the 18th century, the first public cafés appeared, inspired by French gatherings from the 17th century, becoming spaces for cultural and artistic entertainment.

Several cafes emerged in Lisbon such as: Martinho da Arcada (being the oldest café still functioning, having opened in 1782), Café Tavares, Botequim Parras, among others. Of these several became famous for harbouring poets and artists, such as Manuel du Bocage with his visits to Café Nicola, which opened in 1796 by the Italian Nicola Breteiro; and Fernando Pessoa with his visits to A Brasileira, which opened in 1905 by Adriano Teles. The most famous of these coffee houses was the Café Marrare, opened by the napolitan Antonio Marrare, in 1820, frequently visited by Júlio Castilho, Raimundo de Bulhão Pato, Almeida Garrett, Alexandre Herculano and other members of the Portuguese government and the intelligentsia. It began its own saying: «Lisboa era Chiado, o Chiado era o Marrare e o Marrare ditava a lei» (English: “Lisbon was the Chiado, the Chiado was the Marrare and the Marrare dictated the law”).

Other coffee houses soon opened across the country, such as Café Vianna, opened in Braga, in 1858, by Manoel José da Costa Vianna, which was also visited by important Portuguese writers such as Camilo Castelo Branco and Eça de Queirós. During the 1930’s, a surge in coffee houses happened in Porto with the opening of several that still exist, such as Café Guarany, opened in 1933, and A Regaleira, opened in 1934.

Switzerland

[edit]

In 1761 the Turm Kaffee, a shop for exported goods, was opened in St. Gallen.^[57]

Finland

[edit]

Finland’s first coffee house, Kaffehus, was founded in Turku in 1778.^[58] The oldest still-in-use coffee house in Helsinki called Café Ekberg was founded 1852.^[59]

Gender

[edit]

The exclusion of women from coffeehouses as guests was not universal, but does appear to have been common in Europe. In Germany, women frequented them, but in England and France they were banned.^[60] Émilie du Châtelet purportedly cross-dressed to gain entrance to a coffeehouse in Paris.^[61]

In a well-known engraving of a Parisian café c. 1700,^[62] the gentlemen hang their hats on pegs and sit at long communal tables strewn with papers and writing implements. Coffee pots are ranged at an open fire, with a hanging cauldron of boiling water. The only woman present presides, separated in a canopied booth, from which she serves coffee in tall cups.

Aside from the discussion around women as guests of the coffeehouses, it is noted that women did work as waitresses at coffeehouses and also managed coffeehouses as proprietors. Well known women in the coffeehouse business were Moll King (coffee house proprietor) in England, and Maja-Lisa Borgman in Sweden.^[63]

Contemporary

[edit]

In most European countries, such as Spain, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, and others, the term café means a restaurant primarily serving coffee, as well as pastries such as cakes, tarts, pies, or buns. Many cafés also serve light meals such as sandwiches. European cafés often have tables on the pavement (sidewalk) as well as indoors. Some cafés also serve alcoholic drinks (e.g., wine), particularly in Southern Europe. In the Netherlands and Belgium, a café is the equivalent of a bar, and also sells alcoholic drinks. In the Netherlands a koffiehuis serves coffee, while a coffee shop (using the English term) sells “soft” drugs (cannabis and hashish) and is generally not allowed to sell alcoholic drinks. In France, most cafés serve as lunch restaurants in the day, and bars in the evening. They generally do not have pastries except in the mornings, when a croissant or pain au chocolat can be purchased with breakfast coffee. In Italy, cafés are similar to those found in France and known as bar. They typically serve a variety of espresso coffee, cakes and alcoholic drinks. Bars in city centers usually have different prices for consumption at the bar and consumption at a table.^{[64][citation needed]}

Americas

[edit]

Argentina

[edit]

Coffeehouses are part of the culture of Buenos Aires and the customs of its inhabitants. They are traditional meeting places for ‘porteños’ and have inspired innumerable artistic creations. Some notable coffeehouses include Confitería del Molino, Café Tortoni, El Gato Negro, Café La Biela.

United States

[edit]

The first coffeehouse in America opened in Boston, in 1676.^[65] However, Americans did not start choosing coffee over tea until the Boston Tea Party and the Revolutionary War. After the Revolutionary War, Americans momentarily went back to drinking tea until after the War of 1812 when they began importing high-quality coffee from Latin America and expensive inferior-quality tea from American shippers instead of Great Britain.^[66] Whether they were drinking coffee or tea, coffeehouses served a similar purpose to that which they did in Great Britain, as places where business was done. In the 1780s, Merchant’s Coffee House located on Wall Street in New York City was home to the organization of the Bank of New York and the New York Chamber of Commerce.^[67]

Coffeehouses in the United States arose from the espresso– and pastry-centered Italian coffeehouses of the Italian American immigrant communities in the major U.S. cities, notably New York City’s Little Italy and Greenwich Village, Boston’s North End, and San Francisco’s North Beach. From the late 1950s onward, coffeehouses also served as a venue for entertainment, most commonly folk performers during the American folk music revival.^[68] Both Greenwich Village and North Beach became major haunts of the Beats, who were highly identified with these coffeehouses. As the youth culture of the 1960s evolved, non-Italians consciously copied these coffeehouses. The political nature of much of 1960s folk music made the music a natural tie-in with coffeehouses with their association with political action. A number of well-known performers like Joan Baez and Bob Dylan began their careers performing in coffeehouses. Blues singer Lightnin’ Hopkins bemoaned his woman’s inattentiveness to her domestic situation due to her overindulgence in coffeehouse socializing in his 1969 song “Coffeehouse Blues”.^{[citation needed]}

In 1966, Alfred Peet began applying the dark roast style to high quality beans and opened up a small shop in Berkeley, California to educate customers on the virtues of good coffee.^[66] Starting in 1967 with the opening of the historic Last Exit on Brooklyn coffeehouse, Seattle became known for its thriving countercultural coffeehouse scene; the Starbucks chain later standardized and mainstreamed this espresso bar model.^[69]

From the 1960s through the mid-1980s, churches and individuals in the United States used the coffeehouse concept for outreach. They were often storefronts and had names like The Lost Coin (Greenwich Village), The Gathering Place (Riverside, CA), Catacomb Chapel (New York City), and Jesus For You (Buffalo, NY). Christian music (often guitar-based) was performed, coffee and food was provided, and Bible studies were convened as people of varying backgrounds gathered in a casual setting that was purposefully different from traditional churches. An out-of-print book, published by the ministry of David Wilkerson, titled, A Coffeehouse Manual, served as a guide for Christian coffeehouses, including a list of name suggestions for coffeehouses.^[70]

In 2002, Brownstones Coffee of Amityville, New York opened its first location as a breakfast-oriented coffeehouse well before that business model became popular.^[71] The trend later caught on through coffeehouses such as Starbucks,^[72] which seemed to be on every street corner in several major American cities including Los Angeles and Seattle.^[73]

Format

[edit]

See also: List of coffeehouse chains

Cafés may have an outdoor section (terrace, pavement or sidewalk café) with seats, tables and parasols. This is especially the case with European cafés. Cafés offer a more open public space compared to many of the traditional pubs they have replaced, which were more male dominated with a focus on drinking alcohol.

One of the original uses of the café, as a place for information exchange and communication, was reintroduced in the 1990s with the Internet café or Hotspot.^[74] The spread of modern-style cafés to urban and rural areas went hand-in-hand with the rising use of mobile computers. Computers and Internet access in a contemporary-styled venue help to create a youthful, modern place, compared to the traditional pubs or old-fashioned diners that they replaced.

Asia

[edit]

Coffeehouses in Egypt are colloquially called ‘ahwah /ʔhwa/, which is the dialectal pronunciation of قَهْوة qahwah (literally “coffee”)^[75][76] (see also Arabic phonology#Local variations). Also commonly served in ‘ahwah are tea (shāy) and herbal teas, especially the highly popular hibiscus blend (Egyptian Arabic: karkadeh or ennab). The first ‘ahwah opened around the 1850s and were originally patronized mostly by older people, with youths frequenting but not always ordering. There were associated by the 1920s with clubs (Cairo), bursa (Alexandria) and gharza (rural inns). In the early 20th century, some of them became crucial venues for political and social debates.^[75]

In India, coffee culture has expanded in the past twenty years. Chains like Indian Coffee House, Café Coffee Day, Barista Lavazza have become very popular. Cafes are considered good venues to conduct office meetings and for friends to meet.^[77]

In China, an abundance of recently started domestic coffeehouse chains may be seen accommodating business people for conspicuous consumption, with coffee prices sometimes even higher than in the West.

In Malaysia and Singapore, traditional breakfast and coffee shops are called kopi tiam. The word is a portmanteau of the Malay word for coffee (as borrowed and altered from English) and the Hokkien dialect word for shop (店; POJ: tiàm). Menus typically feature simple offerings: a variety of foods based on egg, toast, and coconut jam, plus coffee, tea, and Milo, a malted chocolate drink that is extremely popular in Southeast Asia and Australasia, particularly Singapore and Malaysia.

In Indonesia, traditional coffee houses are called kedai kopi, rumah kopi, or warung kopi which is often abbreviated as warkop. Kopi tubruk is a common drink in small warkop. As a coffee drink companion, traditional kue is also served in the coffee house. The first coffee house in Indonesia was founded in 1878 in Jakarta which named Warung Tinggi Tek Sun Ho.^[78]

In the Philippines, coffee shop chains like Starbucks have become the prevalent hangouts for upper- and middle-class professionals in such districts as the Makati CBD. However, carinderias (small eateries) continue to serve coffee alongside breakfast and snack dishes. Events called “Kapihan” (fora) are often held inside bakeshops or restaurants that also serve coffee for breakfast or merienda. There are also a number of establishments often referred to as “cafés” that serve not just coffee and pastries, but full meals, often international cuisine highly altered to Filipino tastes.^[79]

In Thailand, the term “café” is not only a coffeehouse in the international definition, as in other countries, but in the past was considered a night restaurant that serves alcoholic drinks during a comedy show on stage. The era in which this type of business flourished was the 1990s, before the 1997 financial crisis.^[80]

The first real coffeehouse in Thailand opened in 1917 at the Si Kak Phraya Si in the area of Rattanakosin Island, by Madam Cole, an American woman who living in Thailand at that time, Later, Chao Phraya Ram Rakop (เจ้าพระยารามราฆพ), Thai aristocrat, opened a coffeehouse named “Café de Norasingha” (คาเฟ่นรสิงห์) located at Sanam Suea Pa (สนามเสือป่า), the ground next to the Royal Plaza.^[81] At present, Café de Norasingha has been renovated and moved to within Phayathai Palace.^[82] In the southern region, a traditional coffeehouse or kopi tiam is popular with locals, like many countries in the Malay Peninsula.^[83]

Australia

[edit]

In the 19th century, coffee houses such as the Collingwood Coffee Palace or the Federal Coffee Palace in the centre of Melbourne were established and were part of the temperance movement to reduce the consumption of alcohol in society.^[84]

In modern Australia, coffee shops are ubiquitously known as cafés. Since the post-World War II influx of Italian and Greek immigrants introduced the first espresso coffee machines to Australia in the 1950s, there was initially a slow rise in café culture, particularly in Melbourne, until a boom in locally owned cafés Australia-wide began in the 1990s.^[85] Alongside the rise in the number of cafés there has been a rise in demand for locally (or on-site) roasted specialty coffee, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne. A local favourite is the “flat white” which remains a popular coffee drink.^[86]

Africa

[edit]

In Cairo, the capital of Egypt, most cafés have shisha (waterpipe). Most Egyptians indulge in the habit of smoking shisha while hanging out at the café, watching a match, studying, or even sometimes finishing some work. In Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, independent coffeehouses that struggled prior to 1991 have become popular with young professionals who do not have time for traditional coffee roasting at home. One establishment that has become well-known is the Tomoca coffee shop, which opened in 1953.^[87][88]

Europe

[edit]

United Kingdom

[edit]

The patrons of the first coffeehouse in England, The Angel, which opened in Oxford in 1650,^[89] and the mass of London coffee houses that flourished over the next three centuries, were far removed from those of modern Britain. Haunts for teenagers in particular, Italian-run espresso bars and their formica-topped tables were a feature of 1950s Soho that provided a backdrop as well as a title for Cliff Richard‘s 1960 film Expresso Bongo. The first was The Moka in Frith Street, opened by Gina Lollobrigida in 1953. With their “exotic Gaggia coffee machine[s],… Coke, Pepsi, weak frothy coffee and… Suncrush orange fountain[s]”^[90] they spread to other urban centers during the 1960s, providing cheap, warm places for young people to congregate and an ambience far removed from the global coffee bar standard that would be established in the final decades of the century by chains such as Starbucks and Pret a Manger.^[90][91]

Espresso bar

[edit]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The espresso bar is a type of coffeehouse that specializes in coffee drinks made from espresso. Originating in Italy, the espresso bar has spread throughout the world in various forms. Prime examples that are internationally known are Starbucks Coffee, based in Seattle, U.S., and Costa Coffee, based in Dunstable, U.K. (the first and second largest coffeehouse chains respectively), although the espresso bar exists in some form throughout much of the world.

The espresso bar is typically centered around a long counter with a high-yield espresso machine (usually bean to cup machines, automatic or semiautomatic pump-type machine, although occasionally a manually operated lever-and-piston system) and a display case containing pastries and occasionally savory items such as sandwiches. In the traditional Italian bar, customers either order at the bar and consume their drinks standing or, if they wish to sit down and be served, are usually charged a higher price. In some bars there is an additional charge for drinks served at an outside table. In other countries, especially the United States, seating areas for customers to relax and work are provided free of charge. Some espresso bars also sell coffee paraphernalia, candy, and even music. North American espresso bars were also at the forefront of widespread adoption of public WiFi access points to provide Internet services to people doing work on laptop computers on the premises.

The offerings at the typical espresso bar are generally quite Italianate in inspiration; biscotti, cannoli and pizzelle are a common traditional accompaniment to a caffe latte or cappuccino. Some upscale espresso bars even offer alcoholic drinks such as grappa and sambuca. Nevertheless, typical pastries are not always strictly Italianate and common additions include scones, muffins, croissants, and even doughnuts. There is usually a large selection of teas as well, and the North American espresso bar culture is responsible for the popularization of the Indian spiced tea drink masala chai. Iced drinks are also popular in some countries, including both iced tea and iced coffee as well as blended drinks such as Starbucks’ Frappucino.

A worker in an espresso bar is referred to as a barista. The barista is a skilled position that requires familiarity with the drinks being made (often very elaborate, especially in North American-style espresso bars), a reasonable facility with some equipment as well as the usual customer service skills.

Gallery

[edit]

• “Café” neon sign in Breda
• Café Mélange, Vienna
• Café Kampela, Helsinki
• The Grey Owl Coffee shop in Norman, Oklahoma
• A café in a former church, Utrecht
• Roadside café with a summer terrace. Buryatia, Russia
• Inside of a kopitiam, Malaysia