The Cultural course of Coffee and European Coffee

From the end of the 15th century to the beginning of the 16th century, coffee was already a popular drink in the Middle East, but it was also regarded as a kind of medicine. European ambassadors and merchants in the Turkish Empire also believed that coffee was a healthy drink with special curative effects, and many positive comments helped to import coffee into Europe. Lovov, a famous German doctor and botanist, wrote a book about coffee as early as 1582. However, it was the Venetians who first imported coffee beans in 1615.

Venice in 1645 gave birth to the first open street cafe in Europe. Paris and Vienna also followed, with relaxed and romantic French sentiment and Viennese literati temperament in their own style, which became the forerunner of the two major trends of European cafes in the future.

The Pope approves coffee drinks

Before Spain and Portugal built strong fleets, trade between Europe and the Middle East was tied up by the Venetians, so historians were not surprised that the first coffee bean in Europe was brought in by the Venetians. At that time, coffee was very expensive and too extravagant to drink. At first, it was mainly sold to European pharmacists, but it became more and more popular at the end of the 17th century. Traders who hawked lemons or herbs along the street also began to sell coffee, thus becoming the most civilian drink in Italy.

Although coffee drinks were quickly accepted, Christian conservatives complained that coffee was a "Satan drink" and asked the pope to ban Christians from drinking coffee because Muhammad forbade Muslims to drink Christian wine. Muslims replace wine with coffee, and if Christians follow suit to drink coffee, they will become Muslims. It is said that the Roman church "Emperor Clement VIII" took a sip of coffee and said, "Wow, Satan's drink is so delicious. If it is enjoyed exclusively by non-Christians, it would not be sad. We might as well give coffee a holy name and make fun of Satan." Let coffee be the drink of Christ. "

At the end of the 17th century, many cafes appeared in St. Mark's Square in Venice, which immediately became a meeting place for ordinary people or royal aristocrats. The Caffe'Florian, a well-known cafe still open in the square, was founded in 1720, when there was no postal service, and guests always liked to entrust letters or items to Caffe'Florian, transferred by the shopkeeper, and this cafe became an important information center in Venice.