Around a cup of coffee we talk, work and share time. A journey through coffee's social dimension, from Ottoman coffeehouses to today.
We arrange to grab a coffee even when the coffee itself is almost beside the point.
That phrase says a lot. Because around a cup we talk, wait, work, take a break, or simply share time together. And this social dimension of coffee isn't exactly new.
A drink that soon stepped outside the cup
In Ottoman culture, coffeehouses became established as places to gather, talk, share news and read. That link between coffee and social life remains so relevant that UNESCO recognizes traditional Turkish coffee culture as Intangible Cultural Heritage, highlighting precisely its ties to hospitality, friendship and conversation.
When coffeehouses spread across England during the 17th century, something similar happened. Besides drinking coffee, patrons found newspapers, books, trade news and discussions on science, politics or business. Some became regular haunts for members of the Royal Society and other professional communities.
That said, it's worth avoiding too romantic a view: those spaces weren't equally accessible to everyone. Women, for instance, were generally excluded from many English coffeehouses, and there were also social distinctions between establishments.
Coffee is still an excuse
Cafés have changed, how we brew coffee has changed, and so has how we live. But something remains.
A coffee can mark the start of a conversation, accompany a meeting, or become those ten minutes when two people stop doing other things to sit down together.
Maybe that's why we say "let's grab a coffee" when, often, what we really mean is "let's meet up".
And there's something important in that no recipe explains: coffee is also understood through everything that happens around the cup.