Coffeehasahistorydatingbacktoatleastthe9thcenturyandhasbeenacatalystforsocialinteractionacrossculturesanderas.OriginallydiscoveredinEthiopiacoffeebeanswerebroughtintotheMiddleEastbyArabtradersspreading
Coffeehasahistorydatingbacktoatleastthe9thcenturyandhasbeenacatalystforsocialinteractionacrossculturesanderas.OriginallydiscoveredinEthiopiacoffeebeanswerebroughtintotheMiddleEastbyArabtradersspreadingtoEgyptYemenPersiaTurkeyandNorthAfricabythe15thcentury.MuslimmerchantseventuallybroughtthebeanstothethrivingportcityofVenicewheretheysoldthemtowealthyItalianbuyers.SoontheDutchbeganimportingandgrowingcoffeeinplaceslikeJavaandCeylon(largelythroughslavelabor)andtheBritishEastIndiaTradingCompanywaspopularizingthebeverageinEngland.CoffeespreadacrossEuropeandevenreachedAmerica.
Wheretherehasbeencoffeetherehasbeenthecoffeehouse.Fromthe15thcenturyMiddleEasternestablishmentswheremengatheredtolistentomusicplaychessandhearrecitationsfromworksofliteraturetoParis'CafeleProcopewhereluminariesoftheFrenchEnlightenmentsuchasVoltaireRousseauandDiderotcametoenjoyahotcupofjoecoffeehouseshavetraditionallyservedascentersofsocialinteractionplaceswherepeoplecancometorelaxchatandexchangeideas.
Themoderncoffeeshopismodeledontheespressoandpastry-centeredItaliancoffeehousesthatarosewiththeestablishmentofItalian-AmericanimmigrantcommunitiesinmajorUScitiessuchasNewYorkCity'sLittleItalyandGreenwichVillageBoston'sNorthEndandSanFrancisco'sNorthBeach.NewYorkcoffeeshopswereoftenfrequentedbytheBeatsinthe1950's.Itwasn'tlongbeforeSeattleandotherpartsofthePacificNorthwestweredevelopingcoffeeshopsaspartofathrivingcounterculturescene.TheSeattle-basedStarbuckstookthismodelandbroughtitintomainstreamculture.
Althoughcoffeehousestodaycontinuetoservetheirtraditionalpurposeaslivelysocialhubsinmanycommunitiestheyhavenoticeablyadaptedtothetimes.Rediscoveringtheirpurposeascentersofinformationexchangeandcommunicationmanycoffeeshopsnowprovidetheircustomerswithinternetaccessandnewspapers.IthasbecomeextremelycommontoseesomeonesittingataStarbuckslisteningtomusicorsurfingthewebonhisorherlaptop.Coffeestorestodayalsomaintainafairlyidentifiableyetuniqueaesthetic:woodenfurnitureandplushcouchespa