The Commodity Coffee and its Way Into European Social and Cultural Life

Cultural Implications of the Coffee Trade

070258 KU Praxis der wissenschaftlichen Kommunikation; WS09/10; 5500 words

Moritz Hessler, 0906603

Moritz Hessler

Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................... 2 1. 2. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 3 THE COMMODITY COFFEE .............................................................................................................. 3 2.1. 2.2. 3. Historical Overview.................................................................................................................. 4 Production and Consumption.................................................................................................. 5

COFFEE TREAT AS A CULTURAL REVOLUTION WITH ITS ORIGINS AT THE RED SEA .......................................... 6 3.1. Early Opposition to the Coffehouse ........................................................................................ 6

4.

COFFEE IN EUROPE: ENLIGHTMENT, REVOLUTION, AND MODERNITY ........................................................ 7 4.1. 4.2. 4.3. 4.4. 4.5. 4.6. Regional Characteristic and the Global Competition .............................................................. 8 Arabic Coffee meets European Mercantalism......................................................................... 9 Political and Rational Spirit of Coffee: fostering a modern Civil Society ................................. 9 Coffee and Vices, Changing Moral Standards........................................................................ 10 Creativity and Sophistication around an Arousing Culture ................................................... 11 Contemporary Coffee Treat .................................................................................................. 11

5.

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................ 12

SOURCES ........................................................................................................................................ 13

Moritz Hessler

Introduction

1. Introduction
Considering contemporary phenomena like the Starbucks Revolution or speculative coffee markets it can be assumed that the globally traded commodity coffee occupies an outstanding position in world trade and culture. For several historians the crucial impact of coffee in forming a modern European society is self-evident. Some other authors doubt the importance of the black bean culturally as well as economically. Therefore it is necessary to intensify the examination, not only by analyzing the influence in terms of culture and trade volumes but also tracing back the path of coffee from the Red Sea into European culture and society.

2. The Commodity Coffee

Neglecting the black markets it is much easier to analyze the economical than the cultural impact on Europe, because there are defined figures, which, although they vary slightly between the sources, allow a precise comparison to other commodities. These figures, especially the most recent ones, plead for a significant influence of coffee on the world markets. Even though the myth of coffee as second most important trade commodity after 1 oil is possibly not true anymore since mid of the 1990s it is still the second most valuable primary commodity 2 exported by developing countries . Solely the green beans before roasting account for a world trade volume of 3 around 22 billion US$ today . While you find in Figure 2 that the production processes until roasting only earn about 13,6 % of the sales price you can imagine how much more money is involved in the coffee industry. Specifically for several development countries it is the backbone industry. Countries like Columbia and a number of 4 African countries are fully dependent on their coffee trade . Some 75 million people directly subsist on the coffee 5 6 industry . Alternating demand and highly volatile world market prices due to increasing speculation at the raw material stock markets and sudden sell-outs of enormous stores disarmed the producing countries in terms of self-regulating supply and demand processes. Had it been possible for countries like Yemen to preserve the control over prices to the greatest possible extend for a long time the imperialistic powers incrementally turned the markets on their behoof.

Figure 1: Share in profits of the respective processing steps of coffee, illustration by Moritz Hessler

Figure 2: Prices of the mild arabicas per lb in US cents at the New York stock exchange from 1992 to 2007, (International Coffee Organization / TransFair, 2008)

1 2 3 4 5 6

cf. (Pendergrast, Coffee only second to oil?, 2009) (Talbot, 2004, p. 50) cf. (Pendergrast, Coffee only second to oil?, 2009) cf. (Edelbauer, 2000, p. 53) cf. (Pendergrast, Coffee only second to oil?, 2009) cf. (International Coffee Organisation, 2010) 3

Moritz Hessler

The Commodity Coffee

2.1. Historical Overview Coffee can be categorized as young beverage. Although the plant was first mentioned 1000 a.d. as Bunchum the 7 scholars start to talk about the beverage coffee when the roasting of the beans had been discovered . Before the th preparation as we know it today coffee had only been used as medicine or chewed with milk. Throughout the 14 th and 15 century the plant as well as the roasted consumption had been cultivated in the Kaffa region in south8 western Ethiopia . Soon, Arabic travellers and traders, but especially members of the Sufi orders brought it to 9 Yemen . The highlands of the ancient civilization were suited well for the new cultivation. Thanks to coffees increasing popularity among first the Sufis and then almost all parts of the society the new beverage reached quickly the Yemeni port of Mocha one of the most important Ottoman hubs of trade with Asia, Africa and Europe. Crucial for the stunningly fast spread of coffee throughout the entire Moslem world was the arrival in Mecca, the religious centre of the Islam. Coffee was called qahwa derived from the former expression for 10 wine, which paraphrased the exciting and inebriating respectively . Alternatively it could have also been 11 mistakenly adapted to the Arabic by using the region of origin, Kaffa . Coffee became so quick institutionalized throughout the Muslem world that, already 1511, a dispute about the usefulness and harmfulness arose. Mainly from a political-religious point of view the rulers were concerned about inverting moral standards and feared the 12 threat of conspirations and oppositions the new publicly discussing gatherings of coffee drinkers represented . Although coffee already had been widespread throughout Arabia, the Europeans didnt know anything about the new beverage. As probably first European the German doctor and traveller Rauwolf discovered the new beverage and brought it as a medicine to the soaringly spreading continent. But not before it reached the half European capital of the Ottoman Empire, Constantinople, in 1554 the Europeans argued about coffee. If it was used in Europe before, then only as a medication among outstandingly sophisticated circles of travellers and adventurers, or in aristocratic circles where Arabic merchants presented the exotic drink. th Until the late 17 century Arab coffee traders controlled the flow of coffee into Europe. The only hub to attain coffee in tradable amounts was Mocha. But with increasing demand the European traders and trading companies on one side as well as the African countries like Ethiopia on the other side tried to gain direct access to the lucrative world market. After Ethiopia established the first extra-Arabian coffee hub on the East Indies it is said that the first coffee plant had been smuggled from Yemen to India in the 1790s. First time, the Europeans had their hand on the production. Within a short time they erected plantations in most of their suitable colonies: India, Java, the Antilles, 13 Jamaica, etc. . To meet the further increasing demand an alternative to the exclusively highland plant had to be found: a coffee plant, which could also be grown in the lowlands of e.g. India. The less demanding Robusta, developed by the Europeans, offered this low quality alternative. Delivering twenty times more caffeine than the original Arabica with their 0,8 - 1,3% the Robusta has a bitter, slightly sour taste, but can be grown in many more 14 areas and is therefore cheaper . Although coffee had never been that important to British culture, the British East India Company (BEIC) traded significant amounts mainly to resell it to Germany. Yet, the most important traders of coffee by the end of the th 18 century had been the Dutch with their monopoly in Asia, and the French, with a predominant position in the Caribbean and the New World. Following the accelerating colonization combined with recessive mercantilist behaviour in the major target markets of coffee, North America, France, and Germany, the beverage became part 15 of the diet . Even though the Germans didnt trade coffee theyve been one of the major consumer nations. For North America coffee became part of the self-identification process and symbol of opposition towards the teadominated England. The dramatically growing, close markets of South American coffee and the invention of the
7 8 9

It is not known how it was discovered; cf. (Edelbauer, 2000, p. 77) cf. (Maritsch & Uhl, 1989) cf. (Hattox, 1991, p. 15) cf. (Maritsch & Uhl, 1989) cf. (Hattox, 1991, p. 19) cf. (Edelbauer, 2000, p. 78) cf. (Kamola, 2008, p. 55) cf. (Maritsch & Uhl, 1989, p. 3) cf. (Clarence-Smith & Topik, 2003, p. 6) 4

10 11 12 13 14 15

Moritz Hessler

The Commodity Coffee

Robusta made the Brazilian, Jamaican and Columbian bean easier and cheaper accessible than competing products th like the British taxed tea from Asia. By latest the turn of the 19 century Latin America was supplying 90% of worlds coffee. To thwart a dominating position of Brazil in coffee supply and minimize the impact of a crop shortfall the European governments actively began at the same time to encourage coffee cultivation in a number of 16 African colonies . Especially the shore areas of equatorial Africa had been selected for cultivation of the Robusta. As the slave trade following predominant industry it soon became an important economic sector and occupation. Most of the Africans produced coffee in the hinterlands of continent and sold it in the Europeanized harbours of Angola, Uganda, Latest after colonization more and more countries, especially in Africa and Southern America, intensified their economical emphasis on coffee. Many middlemen, price pressure and missing natural regulation caused dramatic overproduction and led to large stockpiles. Officially liberated from the colonizers the national economies found themselves newly colonized. Without any power they had to accept prices dictated by international conglomerates of roasters, exporters, etc., which used these huge stockpiles for speculation to avoid the price volatility for themselves. Coffee today is a commodity mainly produced by developing or underdeveloped 17 countries and traded in a speculative manner: the price is strongly dependent on future supply projections , options and other financial instruments. 2.2. Production and Consumption Centre of todays coffee price is the New York Stock Exchange , which replaced local importing and exporting 19 traders as well as local auctions . Conglomerates like Procter&Gamble with increasing influence throughout the th st 20 20 and 21 century dominate the markets . Even though times of colonial production and sheer overproduction had been left behind, coffee is maybe one of the closest connected commodities to slave-like labour and unequal 21 exchange . The counter-movement of fair trade coffee shows an example of fighting inequality and unfairness and could be model for other industries to follow. But it also shows that the coffee industry is maybe one of the most unfair global trade sectors. Even though consumption rose from 1750s 36.000t to 1850s 240.000t and then again to 22 1950s 1,86 million tons the equatorial producers stay poor. And still, with more than six million tons already traded in 1990 there is no change. Coffee as an export product became a social motor that sucked peripheral 23 areas into the world economy just to keep them peripheral. But theres more than just the economical perspective. The figures show that of six million tons coffee traded in 24 1990 1,5 million tons remain in the producing countries . Even though there are different styles to prepare coffee and different preferences how to roast and drink it there is a commonly shared kind of a global culture. The fact that some call it an art to prepare coffee underlines this thesis: to select the appropriate origin of the beans, to roast it in the right way or to find the desired mixture of different roasting and sorts, and finally, to brew it in 25 Turkish, filter, or espresso style . Centrally in the coffee-culture you find the coffeehouse, which initiated with its spread in many countries a deep cultural break. It all started with Arabic legends and mysteries about coffee and its promotion by the Sufi orders, whove argued that coffee gives spirituality in a state of complete obviousness to 26 the outside world, [] merging with the divine and thus can be seen as a religious tool of significant importance.
18

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

cf. (Kamola, 2008, p. 56) cf. (Kamola, 2008, p. 62) cf. (Edelbauer, 2000) cf. (Krivonos, 2005, p. 19) cf. (Kamola, 2008) cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 54) cf. (Edelbauer, 2000, p. 53) cf. (Clarence-Smith & Topik, 2003, p. 4) cf. (Edelbauer, 2000, p. 53) cf. (Edelbauer, 2000, p. 9) (Hattox, 1991, S. 24); cf. (Maritsch & Uhl, 1989) 5

Moritz Hessler

Coffee Treat as a Cultural Revolution with its origins at the Red Sea

3. Coffee Treat as a Cultural Revolution with its origins at the Red Sea
Promoted by the influential and widespread Sufis a coffee-culture with Yemen in its centre conquered the Muslem world almost overnight. Quickly the very popular beverage passed over the borders of religious meetings and had been used for less spiritual gatherings of sociability. Since the Sufis represented almost all strata, coffee gained 27 popularity amongst the entire society within a short time . It first appeared secularly by doing business on the markets and as a refreshment on the streets. Strolling coffee sellers and neighbourhood coffee shops provided a quick break in professional life. Yet, a fundamentally revolutionary impact had coffee with the newly appearing, 28 urban institution of the coffeehouse which symbolized a broad and deep cultural change in the Ottoman Empire a general dynamic from the private to the public and the commitment rather to pleasure than piety. The very central aspect of hospitality in Islamic credo adopted a new meaning. Hospitality was no longer something that 29 could be undertaken solely in ones home . With the innovation of socially accepted public places of food, drink and sociability the act of hospitality could also transferred to a public place, where responsibilities as host were limited. This radical break with old values meant smaller effort and offered a larger amount of people to see ones generosity by, for example, treating each other to a cup of coffee with the word giaba. The coffeehouses had soon been established as a location where you spend time, discuss, and play. Something specifically male the coffeehouse-culture developed from gossip to serious debates about literature, science, art, and politics. They became news-centres of a still very traditional world. Newspapers couldnt keep up the speed of this information flow anymore. Among other things coffee was a commodity for speculation, a symbol of hospitality, an excuse for 30 sociable procrastination and a great legal, intellectual, and literary obsession . 31 While already these early types of coffeehouses evoked a small but influential core of opponents , the introduction of entertainment, adapted from the socially despised taverns of Christians and Jews, like chess, backgammon, as well as storytellers seemed to entirely break with traditional values. At the same time as tavern owners occupied on a social scale the same place as a prostitute or a homosexual, the coffee-culture was inevitably 32 connected to the coffeehouses, taverns without wine . A widespread drug consumption of opium, hashish, etc. and the appearance of women for entertainment, an affront to the social norms, intensified the issue for traditionalists and rulers. It would have been accepted in taverns whose customers had already abandoned any 33 pretence of respectability, but not in coffee houses with such a diverse clientele of almost every stratum . 3.1. Early Opposition to the Coffehouse Principally the opposition faced two issues. First, the coffeehouses with their socio-legal issue of public gatherings 34 35 worried the rulers . Their attitude as spaces of discerning discussion posed a possible risk of centres of intrigue 36 and subversion. Thus, coffeehouses and not coffee itself was debated . Even among the highest circles it had its supporters, demonstrated in marvellous, park-like premises. Next to the bathes they enriched the socioinstitutional landscape for the aristocracy. Second, coffee euphoria and intoxication was a thorn in the eyes of 37 38 traditionalists and religious leaders . Because the word qahwa appears to be something brewed it obviously 39 seems to oppose the Koran. Furthermore the variety of improper pastimes as a replacement of frequenting the
27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39

cf. (Hattox, 1991, p. 76) cf. (Hattox, 1991, p. 29) (Hattox, 1991, p. 99) cf. (Hattox, 1991, p. 3) cf. (Hattox, 1991, p. 33) cf. (Hattox, 1991, pp. 75-78) cf. (Hattox, 1991, p. 108) cf. (Hattox, 1991, p. 45) cf. (Maritsch & Uhl, 1989) cf. (Hattox, 1991, p. 37) cf. (Hattox, 1991, p. 57) cf. (Hattox, 1991, p. 17) cf. (Hattox, 1991, p. 6) 6

Moritz Hessler

Coffee in Europe: Enlightment, Revolution, and Modernity

mosque as well as the innovations of nightlife and amusement broke almost all traditional values. The new places of social interchange, in which new patterns of social behaviours were manifested, developed increasingly independent dynamics of a vital civic society. As a Muslim establishment it was reserved for men. But privately as 41 publicly integrated, women drank coffee in almost the same amounts like men : in the bathes, at home, or later in 42 spares of the coffee houses . Even temporary prohibitions by the rulers couldnt stop the initially religious-led bottom-up movement, not until tea became the cheaper alternative in the early 20th century.

40

4. Coffee in Europe: Enlightment, Revolution, and Modernity

The first coffeehouse on the European continent opened 1554 in Constantinople. A vital cultural and scientific exchange of this former East Roman capital with many European countries, especially with the very close harbours of Italy, brought already one year later the first real European coffeehouse to Venice. Other cultural and economic centres in Europe followed subsequently with first coffeehouses: 1650 Oxford, 1664 Den Haag, 1671 Marseille, 43 1672 Paris, 1679 Hamburg, 1683 Vienna . Like in the Arabic world the coffeehouse was a way to establish a coffeeculture. Without the knowledge of usage, properties and preparation it would have remained a niche product for individual forerunners, parts of the aristocracy and adventurers. The coffeehouse not only offered a regional 44 adapted form coffee, it also provided the atmosphere and stimulus to try something new publicly . While the high society already appreciated coffee in private use, traders established degustations on the markets and opened 45 coffeehouses for the healthy elixir . Differently to the Arabic pattern, coffee hasnt been a quick refreshment. You didnt find many coffee shops just to pick up a drink. Rather the culture of more or less luxurious coffeehouses for pastimes found its way into European society. Since the preparation for a European style coffe was quite 46 expensive until at least 1800, the original Arabic institution could strike roots within the diversity of already existing premises. At first with the introduction of the coffee grinder to all strata, cultural aspects of private coffee treat like the German Kaffeekrnzchen or the breakfast coffee appeared. Around the same time increasingly 47 48 cheaper Chinese porcelain, and finally silver and European porcelain , replaced the early tin cups and thus supported the widespread private use. Much more than in the Orient the European state played a institutional role in fostering or constraining the spread of coffee from the very first moment. Until it appeared alcohol was predominant in most parts of Europe and grew 49 to a problem. Beer for example was seen as an all-day beverage . Especially increasingly escalating situations in taverns induced the governments to market alcohol as tiring and sickening, while the new beverage coffee was supported for awakening and even healing properties. First it was practised as a urban fashion drink of the wealthy as well as students, scholars and traders. This bi-directionally culture infiltrated the society not only top-down, as 50 you would expect it from a luxury commodity, but also bottom-up . Yet, had coffee really been a luxury commodity? In fact, coffee after its official introduction into Europe by the coffeehouses was quite affordable and competitive to other beverages. It was the mercantilist system in Europe which led the states to raise taxes and release limited licenses to traders and publicans in order to protect their own commodities and economy. Increasing prices for coffee indeed caused a luxury attitude to coffee in some countries.

40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

cf. (Hattox, 1991, p. 125) cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 36) cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 41) cf. (Edelbauer, 2000, p. 76) cf. (Hattox, 1991, p. 80) cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 44) cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 97) from e.g. Meien cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 111) cf. (Edelbauer, 2000, p. 105) cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 68) 7

Moritz Hessler

Coffee in Europe: Enlightment, Revolution, and Modernity

4.1. Regional Characteristic and the Global Competition From this perspective fragmented Europe offered an entirely opposite face regarding a coffee-culture to the widely unified Ottoman Empire. The major difference could be found in the initial approaches to coffee: for the Muslems it was a spiritual, religious elixir; in Europe, medical and political issues framed the core of the breathtakingly 51 spreading culture . Still, there are important differentiations to state within Europe itself. The most fundamental question would be: what is that Europe we talk about? Second, it should be discussed how the relations between these, in contrast to the Ottoman Empire relatively small, European countries, conditioned cultural and social dynamics. Finally this question should be projected onto a global scale, with the explicit example of coffee. There are many examples how coffee and especially its culture symbolized by the coffeehouse reached Europe. Specific parts of Europe will following be highlighted. We know about the example of the flourishing trade port of Venice, which could be seen as one of the major European trade hubs to Istanbul, North Africa and the East in that time. In Venice coffee was introduced first as a medicine and then as a particular beverage for the aristocracy. Or the close city of Vienna, which almost had been on the borderline to the Ottoman Empire. First, the vivid exchange 52 with the Turkish Budapest. Then, the siege of Vienna 1883 brought the bean into the Habsburg Empire by itself . But to examine the coffee-culture on a global scale and in comparison to competitive commodities theres no better example than the imperialistic challenge between the Dutch and the English, and between coffee and tea respectively. Coffee and tea arrived in both countries almost at the same time . Inspired by the fashion in both countries many 54 taverns had been renamed to coffeehouses, although only the Dutch could be called so . The British coffeehouses, 1674 already around 3.000 of them, suffered from heavy taxation on coffee. Reasonably, they turned towards the less rated and by the state favoured tea. Still, within aristocratic circles coffee remained the favoured beverage for men for a long time while, oppositely to the transgender affection in the Muslim world, there seemed to be the need for a female fashion drink: tea. From 1676, the monopoly on trade to China by the state owned BEIC can be seen as the crucial element for the cultural preference of tea in England. The Dutch, who lost their predominant 55 position in tea trade, concentrated as a result on coffee trade with Mocha . Of course the British supported their own import tea much more than coffee, which they only could buy from Arabic middlemen in Mocha. So, there had been an important economic factor which first affected England and as a result the Netherlands to emphasize either on coffee or tea as cultural preference as well as commodity. This prioritization had been manifested by mainly mercantilist mechanisms. Especially heavy taxations ensured European coffee consumption levels remaining th 56 quite limited until the end of the 18 century , in favour of domestic or domesticated commodities. The imperialistic age affected European states, primarily the colonial powers, to rethink this strategy. Britain, for th example, returned to coffee trade as an important re-exporter to primarily Germany. Differently to the 17 century the cultivation of coffee had been established in the colonies. It is said, that the first coffee plant reached India by th smuggling somewhere at the end of the 18 century. Also, it is handed down that some African countries like Ethiopia were interested in breaking the trade monopoly of Mocha and thus opened an own trade route via the East Indies. All this enabled the Europeans to grow coffee in their own colonies. The Dutch started to cultivate coffee already from 1696 onwards on Java. Comparable to the integrational process of shifting tea production from Chinese authority to their Indian territories by 1823, England started to produce coffee on Ceylon. But like the th French, who lost their predominant producer position in the 19 century due to slave unrest on their Caribbean colonies, the English felt the risk, increasingly mere monocultures and dependencies involved, when a rust fungus 57 destroyed almost all plantations on Ceylon . It was somehow the final decision for England to concentrate on tea.
51 52 53 54 55 53

cf. (Clarence-Smith & Topik, 2003, p. 5) cf. (Edelbauer, 2000, p. 93) Unlike in Italy there was no obviously more direct access to one of the commodities. cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 142)

Apparently, in this time, trade of some commodities in significant amounts was almost exploited in a single country-to-country trade connection. 56 cf. (Clarence-Smith & Topik, 2003, p. 6) Highlighted should be the special, strong dependencies of coffee trade of the producing, mostly development countries to their Western trade partners. These imperial, unequal relationships survived until today. 8
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Moritz Hessler

Coffee in Europe: Enlightment, Revolution, and Modernity

Except the most recent times only coffee surrogates were drunk in the general public as coffee. Like the non58 coffee-producing Germany the surrogates offered the only possibility to meet the demand also in lower strata . 4.2. Arabic Coffee meets European Mercantalism Picking up again the thesis of a commodity prioritization by the state on should first mention England. It is evident, that for example the state-owned BEIC had the power to transform the public taste in their favour, which was 59 tea . The decision against coffee by heavy taxation was a decision to strengthen the position of the BEIC as tea monopolist. Exemplary for coffees discrimination stands the tax per cup sold in a coffeehouse, which had been introduced additionally to import taxes already 1660 by Charles II. Until the mercantilist state intervened, coffee in Europe seemed to become a great success. But due to first own competing commodities like beer in Germany, wine in France, and later tea in England, and then economic reasons like price elasticity and own profit by middlemen th activity, etc., European states began to exclude coffee from their markets. Also Germany, which latest by the 19 century became one of the biggest coffee consumer countries, rated the import product occasionally heavily. In th some parts of Prussia the fashion drink had even only been allowed for the aristocracy throughout 18 century. In other parts the import was a state monopoly. Because of the resulting significant black market it is difficult to evaluate the economical implications in these protectionist states. Finally, German rulers decided anxiously to th abolish all regulations at the end of the 18 century, when the French system of royal arbitrariness had blown away 60 by the revolution . This demonstrates dense entanglements of economic and cultural aspects in that time. The coffee-culture in Germany developed even though it was strongly regulated or even forbidden. The best example for this thesis may be Northern America, yet. The upcoming coffee producers in Latin America and the heavy taxation of all British commodities, especially tea, let the Americans proclaim no taxation without representation. Escalating in the Boston Tea Party, drinking coffee symbolized a patriotic act. The following foundation of the independence movement in America as the Sons of Liberty happened to be in the Merchants 61 Coffee House in New York. It was the invention of the still existing image of coffee as American symbol of liberty . 4.3. Political and Rational Spirit of Coffee: fostering a modern Civil Society Like in Northern America the European coffeehouse had turned out to be a place of an aspiring European civil society. The enlightened Zeitgeist connected the coffeehouse rather to rational-educating than mystic-religious aspects like in the Islamic world. The increasing demand for news catapulted it into the centre of urban life. The European coffeehouse anchored as a public institution the bourgeoisie and fostered the emancipation of 62 aristocracy and clergy . Entertainment, education, politics, arts, and literature contracted there in modern institutions like political parties, clubs and associations. The concentration of almost all civic elements in coffeehouses not only catalyzed an increasingly strengthening civil society through a public and independent 63 opinion but foremost can be seen as the important step towards modernity. The caf parisienne of the French metropolis can be regarded as the most prominent example for a rationalist driven, political bottom-up movement, which has latest been revealed in the French Revolution. The Storming of the Bastille as well as the Proclamation of the Human Rights had both been planned in Caf Foy. Yet, all of the cafs along the Seine and later in Montparnasse and Montmartre were melting pots for some of Europes brightest thinkers of recent past. Caf Procope, for example, is considered as centre of ages of French philosophy, arts and 64 literature .
58 59 60 61 62 63 64

cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 86) Still, this power had been confined to the exercise of political influence to secure preferential duties; (Smith, 202) cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 77) cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 116) cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 177) cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 182) cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 219); among other frequent customers we speak about Voltaire, Rousseau, Balzac, Sartre 9

Moritz Hessler

Coffee in Europe: Enlightment, Revolution, and Modernity

Besides, and like in the Ottoman Empire, the coffeehouse was a place for doing business. Chronometers in every th 65 coffee house of the 19 century symbolized a new rationality , departing from time wasting and tiring alcohol th towards awakening and rationalizing coffee. This new doctrine influenced all strata of the society. In late 19 and th early 20 century coffee and bread displaced beer as worker meal. But already from the beginning, coffee in many European countries was quickly accessible to all who were curious and willing to pay the price. It was not controlled 66 by a process of honory selection even though there are differentiations to make between e.g. Germany and France. Following the historian Habermas the coffeehouse exemplified a public sphere, which was open to all except women, was urban and a commercial and thus bourgeois venue; a place for rational debates about diverse 67 matters, from literary to politics, which could be carried out in a sober and rational way among equals breaking down old policies. Still, not everywhere the coffeehouse represented the venue for wisdom, economisation and 68 rationality. In England the coffeehouse often attracted gossiping and ridiculed politicians ; and, the English 69 coffeehouse was no place for a woman who wished to preserve their respectability . 4.4. Coffee and Vices, Changing Moral Standards All over Europe except some specific examples like the Viennese Konzert-Kaffeehaus the coffeehouse hasnt been a place for women. The only women found in a coffeehouse were either prostitutes (see Figure 3) in more shrewd establishments of the urban suburbs or dancers, singers, etc. Comparable to the Arabic world there were many moral qualms when coffee first appeared in Europe. Even though there already had been a culture of nightlife, vices, and games in taverns, the coffeehouse experienced new extends it became widely socially accepted.

Figure 3: George Cruishank, Midnight. Tom & Jerry, at a Coffee Shop near the Olympic, around 1820. (Heise, 2005, S. 85)

65 66 67 68 69

cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 157) cf. (Cowan, 2005, p. 145) cf. (Cowan, 2005, p. 149) cf. (Crawford, 1852, p. 242) cf. (Crawford, 1852, p. 248) 10

Moritz Hessler

Coffee in Europe: Enlightment, Revolution, and Modernity

Presumably many of the newly appearing guesthouses, Italian Casini, and French chambres sparees offered from the 18th century rooms to rent for a night not only to spend the night. Some of them were the roots of gamble casinos and brothels. Besides, contradictory to the rational and enlightened attitude of coffee 70 coffeegrounds divination - not approved by the authorities - was a common practice . 4.5. Creativity and Sophistication around an Arousing Culture Many examples prove coffees impact on todays culture and especially cultural diversity. Already within the German-speaking areas of Germany and Austria one could find significant differences. The Viennese coffeehouseculture became a touristic attraction. The own adaption of the Arabic beverage, the Melange, was able to compete established drinks and served in an identifying manner. With increasing competition the mostly foreign coffee chefs edited newspapers and incrementally copied the Arabic patterns of the coffeehouse as centres of an 71 intellectual, urban life . Differently furnished and functionally distinct than in Mecca they still revealed many parallels. Similarly one would have found a coffeehouse in the flourishing economical and cultural centres of Hamburg and Leipzig. Elsewhere, and especially in rural German areas, coffee adopted a squared attitude drunken in private circles. It almost can be seen like kind of a countermovement to Arabia, where coffee moved the society from private to public. Still, the urban coffeehouses were splendid institutions of their time. In Austria they th developed towards a more musical rendezvous with the appearance of the Concert-Cafs by the 18 century. These stages for Strauss, Beethoven, etc. werent a male domain anymore. Like the French caf de chanson they opened their gates to everybody, also to women. Slowly, amusements or culture were not socially restricted anymore. Everybody could get involved into political, literary and philosophical debates as well as everybody could 72 enjoy arts, music, and other kinds of entertainment . The Germans decided to reproduce the French style caf with its philosophic-political attitude, which was en mode 73 at that time . Close to the journalistic branch the French style coffeehouses were not only central for the 1848 th revolution in Germany, but also the natural environment of the Bohemianism from the 19 century onwards all 74 around the world . Parallel, the Grand Cafs de Paris and of London, with their either bourgeois or club-like 75 atmosphere conquered the imperialistic world as outposts of European civilization . They not only offered th company and sociability anymore but also cuisine, hotel and wellness. The first kinematic show on the 28 December 1895 in a Grand Caf in Paris as well as integrated casinos, nightclubs, business clubs and sophisticated political spheres testify the fundamentality of the coffeehouse for European culture and society on their way to modernity. Either touristic, bourgeois, bohemian, luxurious, colonial or club-like, the coffeehouse offered a public platform for the civil society to ascend to modernity. 4.6. Contemporary Coffee Treat Todays coffeehouse landscape reflects the dynamics of past centuries. The Starbucks boom, Italian bars, French 76 cafs, and the general business orientation of the societies caused an ever increasing popularity of coffee . No business meeting seems to be conductible without coffee. Espresso machines and the general banishment of 77 alcohol from business life and during the day supported coffee as accepted soft-drug . Instant coffee opened 78 further markets for low quality beans and new developing countries . But especially there we find the main issues
70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78

cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 71) cf. (Edelbauer, 2000, p. 96) cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 153) cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 70) cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 229) cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 154) cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 138) cf. (Edelbauer, 2000, p. 106) cf. (Clarence-Smith & Topik, 2003, p. 11) 11

Moritz Hessler

Conclusion

of the coffee industry today. Dominated by conglomerates, who dictate taste and price like the EICs centuries ago, 79 80 a major challenge will be, to find a way of ethical sourcing . These movements of faire trade and premium coffee have the potential to be the initial elements for another break, this time rather economical than cultural. Again, these dynamics are influenced by a widely academically led, bottom-up culture. Fair trade coffee, as initiator for following fair trade products, is ideologically connected with a better taste and social reputation. Who can afford it and is part of educated strata, already considers the option of fair trade. Starbucks advertises with its extended cooperation to fair trade. Like the movement of organic products, it not only improves the general product 81 82 quality on increasingly fairer markets , but also transforms the general awareness of ethics and sustainable 83 economics. The increasingly common evidences that a premium is attached to product origin and that justice is 84 perceived as inherent part of sustainability demonstrate another deep, cultural and economical break. And it emphasizes the again outstanding position of coffee as the leading commodity in these discussions.

5. Conclusion
Merging all these evidences of some 500 years, from a cultural as well as an economical perspective, the outstanding position, which was assumed coffee occupies, can be confirmed. More than 70 producing countries 85 along the equatorial area , for most of them the backbone industry, and their economical entanglements in world trade; the dramatical cultural changes of the Christian as well as the Muslem world triggered by the coffeehouses and thus presumably and mostly by coffee; the semblance that almost every important decision in history had been met in a coffeehouse. All this would support this thesis. Even though some of the coffeehouses would have been just called so and actually didnt offer coffee. Solely the fact that they were called coffeehouses speaks for the importance of the black bean. Coffee was and is not a niche product. It triggered a consumer revolution all around the world and was able to create a modern, public sphere and a polite and commercial society with bourgeois, 86 democratic values . To present the example of Britain for a last time: even though there hasnt been a distinct coffee-culture, the socially central club culture steams in the coffeehouses as central institutions of urban life, 87 which built the elements of a modern society . And even though tea was predominant, Britain had been always engaged in coffee trade. First with the Arabicas, then the Robustas, and finally it had been a major producer of surrogates and instant coffee. Today, it is said, in London youll be served with a coffee, in rural Lancashire with a tea.

79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87

cf. (Bacon, 2003) cf. (Blowfield, 2004) cf. (Blowfield, 2004, p. 17) cf. (Kamola, 2008, p. 71) cf. (Blowfield, 2004, p. 18) cf. (Blowfield, 2004, p. 22) cf. (Heise, 2005, p. 53) cf. (Crawford, 1852, p. 259) cf. (Crawford, 1852, p. 262) 12

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