Early coffeehouses in England

Coffee was brought to England first by a Turkey merchant, returning from a voyage to the Levant in the time of Cromwell; he was accompanied by a Greek named Pasqua Rosee who understood the art of preparing the beverage.

This man founded a Coffee house in London in 1652, which prospered so exceedingly, that it is said twelve months there were as many Coffee houses in London as in Constantinople. It was opened on St. Michael’s Alley, off Cornhill.

It should be noted the first English coffeehouse, the Angel was founded in Oxford in 1650. Over the following decades English people entered into the coffeehouses trade, and hundreds of coffeehouses spread over urban England.

The buzz of the coffeehouse came not only from excess of caffeine; it also emanated from political conversation, as coffeehouses became centers for the exchange of political news, gossip and opinion.
Early coffeehouses in England