A coffee shop, unlike many other food formats, is always a very personal story, where a thoughtful concept, the desire to form a community of like-minded people and the notorious atmosphere are sometimes more important than the menu and the size of the room. Bolshaya Derevnya and the educational platform Masters of Russia asked coffee shop owners to tell their personal stories in the first person. We learned who and why opens coffee shops in Samara, what difficulties entrepreneurs face on the way to their dream, and what needs to be done to make it all work out.
Dmitry Khramov
Coffee house White Cup
I am an architect and my main business is Khramov's architectural bureau, which has been in existence for over twenty years. I had a hand in many objects in Samara, including the Russian restaurant "U Palycha" on Nekrasovskaya, Train Station and more than sixty restaurants in the city.
In 2006, when I was working on the Kin-Up complex, I received an order for the interior of a modern coffee shop. I was given complete freedom in terms of architectural solutions, and the first White Cup appeared - a trendy red and white coffee shop with comic strips on the ceiling. I think she set the standard right coffee in Samara. At that time, cappuccino was everywhere made with cream from a can, and espresso was categorically not understood and was always mistaken in the name. Professional baristas were brought to the White Cup and began to work with people's minds, train them and instill a culture of coffee.
The project was loved, and over time it began to expand - the team opened four points, and there were six more in the plans. The network flourished - Moscow businessmen even came to the city with an offer to purchase a franchise from the team, however, they were refused. But somewhere in 2008, things did not go very well: establishments in Samara began to close one after another. I was called in by an investor - a big businessman - and offered to buy the brand, since the design belonged to me. So I became the owner of the business - and immediately ran into a problem: the owner, from whom we rented the coffee shop, decided to sell it to the bank, so I had to move out.
We moved to the office center, where we occupied not much large room and worked mostly for local employees. But after a while, the Ministry of Culture contacted me and offered to open an institution in the courtyard of the Modern Museum. I liked the idea, but it was not immediately possible to implement it. The building where the coffee house is now located is a cultural monument - in the time of the Kurlins there was a carriage house here - and in order to open an institution, many legal delays had to be overcome. It took me five years to settle all the issues and finally take my place.
We carefully thought over the concept of the institution - both the interior in general and some details are subject to it. For example, an idea was born called "All Art Nouveau in a White Cup" - and we made a series of mugs, which depict monuments of Samara Art Nouveau. And then they turned an ordinary set of souvenirs into something more by inventing a wooden card under the ceiling on which these mugs hang - each of 36 is attached to a winding line that originates from desired point on the map, the real address of the depicted attraction. Our task is to surprise the guest and invite him to a dialogue. We give people an atmosphere that promotes enlightenment.
The basis of the interior is plywood structures, as it is a democratic and simple material that is close to everyone. We left the old brick on the walls and just painted it in the original White color. Each element here has real story: if a brick, then left over from the 19th century, if an old serving cart at the entrance, then only the one that really lived a lifetime. If the thing is modern, then it reflects its own time. Most of the items are related to my friends and brought back from my travels. For example, I bought manual coffee grinders placed around the perimeter of the hall in Amsterdam, Marseille, Paris. People appreciate honesty, so there are no fakes in the coffee shop.
At the same time, we do not forget about functionality. In the bar counter, for example, there are drawers. They store grains that Evgeny Ivakhnenko, the head barista and co-owner of the coffee shop, professionally roasts on a roaster. Any guest can come up and pour the variety they like into the branded package on their own. On each package, Evgeny's face is like a sign of quality.
Since the coffee shop is located on the territory of the museum, I took it upon myself to hold installations and cultural events here. it creative laboratory, and not just a place where you can drop in for a cup of coffee. Every Tuesday we have a club of coffee lovers: city baristas arrange samples, evaluate the taste and smell of drinks, look for new combinations. On "Architectural Environments" we discuss, for example, works from the Venice Biennale. We also hold perfume evenings, where fragrances are tailored to a specific moment in a movie or a musical composition.
We understand that spontaneous actions lead to nothing, and establishments that use pop tricks quickly turn into eateries. I think business owners need to be more patient. Yes, at first we did not have as many guests as we would like - mostly friends came, but we knew that it was important to stick to the concept. Our coffee shop began to make a profit only six months later - this is not a sensational, but a stable result.
The restaurant business in Samara is just beginning to emerge. Exclusively commercial institutions appear more often than author's ones and, as a rule, turn into universal impersonal stories. White Cup is a local project, but it has more sustainability and life than global ones.
Artem Eskin
Coffee house "Tolstoy"
The coffee shop is not my first business. Before that, there was a lot of everything: at the age of 9-10, I helped my sister who sold cookies in the market, after the 10th grade I kept an ice cream point in the Metallurgists' Park, and after the 11th - already several points at stops in my native area. Then he helped his father - his business was connected with the trade in building materials, and when he decided to become independent from his parents, he worked for 5-6 years as an administrator in hotels - in Samara and Olympic Sochi.
I came to the coffeehouse format from the idea of creating a bakery - not like "Khlebnitsa", but organized like French bakeries or German bakeries - with its own workshop, sourdough bread, croissants and places to plant. To do this, serious financial investments, equipment, personnel, a large premises are required - it is not yet clear how to approach this. Coffee is simpler: all you need is a coffee machine and the ability to cook. For a while, my wife and I lived in Moscow, and we had a favorite coffee shop that attracted us not only with a drink, but also with some kind of immediacy, lack of formalities. I thought that this should also come in Samara. Here, after all, either large players with large premises, such as Coffee Bean, or islands in shopping malls and takeaway coffee kiosks. And I want such a small cozy coffee shop, where the person who organized it all himself stands behind the counter. I would like to move away from the industrial format to the handicraft one - like in Italy, when one family has been doing something for decades.
I like Old city- it is most associated with Samara: beautiful buildings, embankment, there is where to take a walk. So when I saw an ad on Nekrasovskaya for renting a room with good conditions, decided that you can try. The place, of course, is ambiguous: on the one hand, near Leningradka, on the other, Nekrasovskaya itself is not very passable. One person told me: “You will only last at the fan club if the coffee shop has fans who will not be too lazy to walk an extra block to it.” Therefore, at first it was not clear whether we would succeed or not, but so far we are working, it seems that we are doing everything right - there are more and more guests.
I was helped with the repair by a childhood friend who is engaged in design, her project is called "Workshop 99". Initially, the room was only 15 meters - such a micro-coffee house is probably the smallest in Samara, and literally three weeks ago the next room was vacated and the girls from "99" decided to move in with us. We demolished the wall, and now we have not just a coffee shop, but an association, and this is very cool. Here you can drink coffee, negotiate repairs, evaluate the example of the work of the Masterskaya team live.
In the interior, everything came from the rack: it seemed to me so tattered - this style is called "barn board" - and everything else was supposed to support this theme. At first we wanted to beat off the brick wall and make a loft style - the building is old, the brick is beautiful, but then we thought it was confusing and costly. Therefore, they simply painted the wall, it turned out very photogenic.
The result is not a loft, where everything should be so tattered with a bare light bulb under the ceiling, but industrial chic - “faded luxury”, when, for example, a dilapidated wall of a mansion with stucco under the ceiling is specially recreated. All things were selected under each other, but all of different places: I bought these chairs from the 1950s at Avito, the table is old, German, the mirror is pre-revolutionary. I like this approach - not like in public catering, where they throw out all the old dishes and furniture during repairs, but simple, like in Europe: the cup cracked, broke off, but no one is in a hurry to throw it away. The whole concept is to be simple: you come here and become like your own.
It's a pity that the coffee shop has only one window. But we try to use all the possibilities of space: when we first found this room, Dasha's mother sewed a bed for us to sit on the windowsill, and it went very cool, they sit here, and the children sleep, and they just do not.
Here is a whale, his name is Sanyok. Even before the opening of the coffee shop, my wife Dasha went to a master class with the girls from the "Workshop" - they had ready-made cuts and they showed how to paint them. Dasha made a whale and it stood in the corner of our house until I got the idea to hang it here. Now everyone is taking pictures with him, he has become a star with us.
Our friends have helped us in many ways and continue to help us. For example, the guys brought flowers, my friend Masha, who travels a lot around the world, brought cups from Australia, from Japan. True, now I have decided to abandon glassware, because we have an autonomous sink - it is difficult and expensive to supply water, so only paper glasses.
Dasha and I are the main workers. I stand at the counter myself, so Monday is the only day off for me and the coffee shop. I learned how to make a drink in the process - I started to like my coffee only a month ago. I have a friend who is a professional barista, I used to visit him at work and ask him to show me some basics. I learned a lot myself: I watched vidos, constantly read something. It is important to understand that the taste of coffee is very unstable and there are many variables in this equation: in addition to the beans themselves, the quality of the drink is affected by the humidity of the room, the settings of the coffee machine are completely filigree, where everything goes to fractions of millimeters. I didn't understand it right away, and I was very ashamed in front of the first guests, many of whom were rummaging around in this. Now every order for me is an experiment and a challenge: it is interesting for me to surprise a guest.
Why is the coffee shop called "Tolstoy"? A collective image works here: I like the work of Leo Tolstoy, and Alexei Tolstoy is generally our fellow villager! In addition, the word "Tolstoy" has an excellent sound - the name looks beautiful, fits well on English language and is unlikely to be distorted by a foreigner.
Since much of this is organized by ourselves and our friends, we saved a lot of money. But for those who want to open their own coffee shop, I do not advise starting this business without an extra two hundred thousand rubles - this amount is enough for the first month of work. I have the desired amount of earnings, but so far I have not reached it - nevertheless, I see that the business brings more and more income.
I don't feel competitive large networks like Starbucks - just because we're all into coffee doesn't mean we're rivals. We have completely different clients - they come to us not only for a drink, but also for communication, an atmosphere that exists only here, and not in any Spaceport. I believe that we are not selling a product, but a feeling. I don't like Starbucks at all, it's bad coffee.
Vladimir Slavinsky and Semyon Lederman
Coffee Steam
Vladimir Slavinsky
Semyon Lederman
We have known each other since high school, and in the spring of last year they began to joke about general business. Like most young guys, they imagined their own bar, but since alcohol is not our topic, they fantasized about a sober bar - and at one moment they realized that such a bar was a coffee shop.
At first they just laughed and forgot, and after a couple of months they began to think whether it was really possible to open their own institution. We found a guy on the Peekaboo website who opened a coffee shop in small town and helps others do it, talked to him and began to draw up a business plan. They did it, like all inexperienced people: they just opened Google, downloaded dozens of ready-made options and began to substitute items suitable for our coffee shop in them. As a result, we got quite real numbers, and we realized that investments can pay off.
The intentions became serious, but we did not have our own funds, so we began to look for people who were ready to believe in our idea and invest in it. We made a presentation with all the calculations, paying attention even to the costs of toilet paper. Expenses were prescribed taking into account that everything could go as bad as possible, and multiplied by two to make sure.
The next step was competitor analysis. We opened Google maps, saw that there were a lot of coffee shops in the city, but upon closer examination, it turned out that half of them had long been dead. Even this is not important: in Samara, in order to reach a coffee shop, you need to overcome a decent distance, while in Europe the outlets open close to each other and get along well. So, even with the fact that we constantly have new places with coffee, it cannot be said that the market is crowded.
We studied the experience of establishments that quickly closed: we read negative reviews, looked at photos, studied the menu. Most of them stopped working in the first three months after launch, and we found out why. Top management in such coffee shops, as a rule, is not interested in their development and maintenance at the proper level. It is widely believed that selling coffee is so profitable that one has only to open a point, and people will run on their own, but this is not so.
The second point is unreasonable savings. People are trying to cut costs where they shouldn't be: buying the cheapest grain or underpaying staff. A person who earns little is not interested in decent service and good coffee, and with low-grade grain it is generally impossible to make it. And another problem is the lack of a concept of the institution. It is important that everything in it is subject to a single style. A thing in itself may be beautiful, but if it doesn't fit the place, it doesn't need it.
When preliminary work was carried out, we began to look for a room. We focused on the central regions, where people have a habit of eating in in public places. We went to "Avito" in search of rental ads - we needed a small area and access to the street, not to the courtyard - and did not find anything suitable. Then we went for a walk around the city and subscribed to phone numbers from real ads.
We liked the premises at Novo-Sadovaya, 5. Having learned the conditions, we decided to check the patency of the place: we just got up and started counting people who could potentially become guests of our coffee shop, doing this in the morning, afternoon and evening on weekdays and weekends. As a result, it turned out that even if only 1% of the entire flow of people visits us, this will be enough to continue working. So we made sure that we need to stop here.
We got the room with white walls and armstrong - and we had to think what to do with it. We understood how important it was to work out the design of an institution, and since we had no experience in this area, we communicated with everyone who understands it. The interior was inspired by Victorian steampunk - the retro-futurism of the early 20th century, when mankind considered steam technology, mechanics and electricity to be the pinnacle of progress. Having decided to paint the walls, they turned to the artist. She said that if there are incandescent lamps in the room, you need to choose a contrasting one for the walls. cold color. We bought paint, found painters at Avito, and the room began to take on style.
Special attention we paid attention to the ceiling - we wanted to be examined, but for a long time we could not figure out what to hang. To make a decision, we opened a dictionary with terms that characterize steampunk and chose what suits us best - an airship, gears, the spirit of adventurism, the first discoveries. As a result of the search, the idea came up to place a retro world map at the top, symbolizing that for a person of the 20th century the world has been explored, but he wants to explore it further. Put her on stretch ceiling it turned out to be expensive, so we attached the picture directly to the armstrong - it turned out original.
Coffee Steam works without a kitchen, because with it there is a lot of problematic issues, but nevertheless, we decided that pastries and desserts are still needed: it’s very upsetting when, in addition to a glass of coffee, only dried cookies are waiting for you on the counter. Then we put in an oven - the only thing that is available to us in the absence of a hood, and decided to use its potential to the maximum.
Most Baked goods are supplied to us from Belgium and Denmark, but they do not spoil, because the companies we work with use shock freezing technology. Croissants are not baked, but placed in a special freezer, and then transported across half the continent. Already here we put them in our oven - and the result is in no way inferior to fresh pastries from any bakery.
Three weeks have passed since the conclusion of the lease agreement to the opening, so doing everything together, without a team, is difficult, but quite realistic. You just need to work from dusk to dawn, sparing no time and effort.
People began to come to us two weeks before the official start of work. We invited them to the opening and, if the coffee machine was on, treated them to free coffee. On X-day exactly at 7-30 there was a knock on the door - the first person who still visits our coffee shop came in, followed by other guests - also thanks to the “coffee for a repost” campaign announced by us. Many ran by chance, but gradually an audience began to form.
As a rule, our guests are young families and people over 35 years old who come to relax at lunchtime or tune in to work in the morning. Soft light and quiet music contribute to this. Almost every evening there is at least one company that chooses our coffee shop for conversations or board games. It's nice to see that people make new acquaintances here, exchange contacts, and not just drop in for coffee.
We organized evenings dedicated to the work of Max Fry, a Russian writer who works in the fantasy genre and loves coffee, so he often mentions it in his works. Six meetings have already passed, we can organize more, but there is no time for this yet - when you do everything together, you simply do not have enough strength for the duties of an art director. But we are not the only ones who organize events: sometimes guests offer to hold a game or training, and we are happy to provide space for such initiatives. Once, for example, the Hearthstone esports championship was held here.
Business is gaining momentum - every month is better than the previous one. In the next six months, we are definitely not going to close, but for a year from the date of opening, I think we will arrange some kind of holiday.
Vladimir Nenashev
Chain of mini-coffee shops Mosaic Coffee
I started my first business at the age of 14 - I made and sold souvenir soap, like in the movie Fight Club. Despite the rather high price, it was bought by fans of the tape, and it was great. But then a crowd of mothers appeared who make soap on maternity leave, and my business collapsed.
For my eighteenth birthday, they gave me 5,000 rubles, and I spent them on a coffee machine to make coffee, like in cafes. The drink turned out just disgusting, so I began to dig on the Internet to understand what I was doing wrong. From a million unnecessary links, I found the prokofe.ru forum, where home coffee makers tell you how to make a decent drink yourself. I realized that it was not about me, but about the equipment, I changed the coffee machine to a cooler one, and the result immediately improved. Then I realized that there is one thing that is even more important - a good coffee grinder that provides an even grind. Gradually, I also became a home coffee maker, and the more I trained, the more I realized that I wanted to connect with this business all my life.
After working there for a while, I started renting equipment to roast coffee for myself. As a result, a year later I was kicked out, considering it a competitor, and I started working at field events and saving money for my own equipment.
At that time in Samara, only one person went to events with a table and a coffee machine, and I became the second. I started with a restaurant day, and then they began to invite me to other events. In 2015, we became friends with Dmitry Sobolev, my current partner, finally bought the coveted equipment and started roasting coffee on our own.
Every barista's dream is to open his own place. Dmitry and I wanted a place where the coffee we roast would be prepared every day. At that time, in 2016, the coffee-to-go chain “Roll Coffee” was closing in the city, and we bought out all five outlets.
When the work began, we realized that this is a completely different business than working at events: we immediately had difficulties with logistics, hiring staff, training and other things that we had not done before. In addition, all establishments of the network at the time of purchase were unprofitable - the monthly minus was about 300 thousand. We did not know what to do with it, we slept for several hours a day to put the system in order and organize the process.
First of all, we fired all the staff and started work from scratch. Finding new employees was not easy. At first, we hired a person right away if he seemed adequate, but with this scheme, most baristas left after a couple of months, realizing that the job was not suitable for them. Now we are working on a system of two-stage interviews. The first takes place at the point of sale, so that the applicant immediately knows what he will do and where it will take place. We evaluate how a person behaves in this space, and he wonders if he needs this job. At the second interview, we talk about salary and the manager decides how suitable the person is for us. With such a system, the turnover decreased - people began to linger for at least six months.
The next task is to work with suppliers. Each of them has its own nuances: someone delivers raw materials for a certain amount, and someone for free, but once a week. You need to understand who is more convenient to work with, but at the same time always have a fallback, because without glasses, for example, it is impossible to make coffee.
It is worth thinking about wages - it is better if it is a percentage of sales, and not a fixed rate. My favorite businessman, Yevgeny Chichvarkin, says: “If you don’t share your profits, then not a single responsible person will work for you.” I fully agree with this. Once the baristas started earning interest, sales increased.
It is important to work with staff. So, we conducted training sessions, where we told how to increase average check. They proved to be very effective - the very next day, revenue increased by 15%. The most difficult thing in the development process is control. People need to feel like they have a big team behind them to support, help, and make sure the job is done right.
The main thing that we understood is that cadres decide everything. If you hire a person who is properly responsible for his function, everything will be all right. You can’t drag all the points to one - you need a team of competent guys who will be responsible for a specific area of work. We have one, so the business is gradually growing. The plans include selling the franchise and opening a full-fledged coffee shop.
In any cafe, restaurant, tavern you can order a cup of hot and fragrant coffee. However, there are small cozy establishments that specialize exclusively in the preparation and serving of coffee or tea. They are called coffee houses. To sweeten the strong and invigorating drink as a dessert, you can choose a sweet dish, cake or ice cream. Some coffee establishments offer customers a range of sweet, carbonated and alcoholic drinks. On the territory of Western Asia and the lands of the Middle East, coffee shops offer customers hookah with flavored tobacco.
Where did the first coffee shops appear and when?
Since coffee is a "native" of the Arab world, then, accordingly, coffee houses began to appear in these states. The first two establishments opened in Constantinople, now the modern capital of Turkey, Istanbul, in 1554. The popularization of the consumption of an invigorating drink in gastronomic establishments pushed the society to start opening them in a variety of European states. The first coffee shop in Italy opened its doors to visitors in the middle of the 17th century. Since coffee reached the eastern part of Europe thanks to sea transportation, the first coffee house was opened in Venice in 1654. Well, the Florian coffee house is especially popular, which has been welcoming its visitors from 1720 to the present.
After conquering the European market, coffee began to spread in northern part the globe. On the English island, a coffee deli was opened in 1652. However, in this state they were characterized distinctive feature. Here, coffee houses were called "onepenny universities", since they charged a fee both for a cup of an invigorating drink and for admission to its premises.
Since England owned lands on the American mainland, its leaders brought their culture to the territory of America. So, in 1670 in the capital of Massachusetts - the city of Boston, William Penn opened the first coffee house. The country of eternal fashion, culture and style was not long in coming - France. Here, for the first time, a coffee house appeared in Paris in 1672 thanks to Francesco Proccopio, a native of Sicily. The merchant made a tactical move and opened an establishment opposite the popular Comedie Francaise theater. The upper elite got the opportunity to arrange their meetings in modern establishments over a cup of fragrant vivacity drink.
In the central part of Europe, the first gastronomic institution for the consumption of coffee was opened in 1683 in Vienna, after the liberation of the country from the invaders. Ottoman Empire. Yuri Franz Kulchitsky developed own recipe preparing a drink. Now in the capital of Austria there are more than three thousand coffee establishments. Their distinctive feature is not only a joint pastime, but also the solitude of a person over a cup of coffee with a newspaper or his thoughts.
In the German capital of Berlin, the first coffee room began its work in 1721.
Coffee houses in Russia
The first coffee houses in Russia appeared under the rule of Peter the Great. It was this ruler who tried coffee as a ready-to-drink drink in Holland and upon his return to Russian lands began to actively promote it. The establishments delighted visitors before the onset of the power of the proletariat. At the heyday Soviet Union all coffee houses were closed and restored their work in the early 90s. The first coffee house in a modern style was opened in St. Petersburg. By the end of 2005, their number increased to 150. All coffee houses in Russia are united in trade brands and operate on a network basis.
A coffee house is a gastronomic establishment whose main activity is the sale of coffee of different varieties. Usually in such places you can buy ground or grain coffee, taste an invigorating drink right on the spot, enjoying the cozy atmosphere.
History of coffee shops
The first coffee houses around the world that influenced the distribution of this drink were opened in the 16th century in ottoman empire. The Turks and Arabs were the first to appreciate the taste of the drink that arrived to them with merchant ships from Abyssinia and began to open cozy establishments where one could safely enjoy the taste and aroma of the drink. People got so carried away visiting coffee shops that they began to skip daily meals. muslim prayers which greatly outraged the religious leaders. Without thinking twice, they decided to declare a fight against the drink, attributing intoxicating properties to it and equating it with wine. And, as you know, true Muslims are forbidden to drink alcohol. Sultan Mohammed supported this decision of the clergy, declaring coffee and coffee houses illegal. The tricksters who found the opportunity to purchase and drink the drink they loved so much were severely punished - they were stuffed into a coffee bag, sewn up, and thrown alive into the depths of the sea. The first coffee houses in the world went through such a difficult path.
Opening coffee shops in Europe
Having gained wide popularity in the Arab countries, coffee began to appear in Europe, and accordingly, establishments specializing in the sale of the drink began to open. It is difficult to say what was the first coffee house in Europe.
According to some reports, the first institution of this kind was opened by the merchant Kulchitsky in Vienna, after he helped liberate the besieged city from the attack of the Arabs and took bags of coffee beans from them. At first, the inhabitants did not appreciate the taste of an unfamiliar drink, but the merchant managed to change people's minds thanks to his resourcefulness. After Vienna, coffee was tasted in Paris, and then the drink quickly spread throughout the territory of old Europe.
According to other sources, the first European institution providing coffee drinks to visitors was opened in Venice, thanks to sea transportation, and from there the prim English adopted the fashion for coffee houses, then the fashionable French, and so, gradually, the drink was recognized and loved by all of Europe.
Opening coffee shops in Russia
The first coffee house in Russia appeared during the reign of Peter I, who, as you know, actively adopted various European innovations. Having tasted coffee once in Holland, Peter I brought the novelty to his homeland, where the active popularization of the drink and establishments selling it began.
In Russia, coffee houses existed until the proletarians came to power, who decided to close bourgeois establishments. However, after the collapse of the USSR, coffee houses got a second chance to exist, and the first one opened in St. Petersburg in the early 90s.
The most famous coffee houses
If we talk about the most famous coffee houses in the world, then we cannot fail to mention such establishments as:
· "Florian", a coffee house located in Venice and accepting visitors for more than two hundred years (since 1720);
Central Perk is located in New York. Interestingly, at first it was invented by the scriptwriters of the famous sitcom "Friends", and later appeared in real life;
· “El Fishavi”, a colorful coffee house located in one of the oldest quarters of Cyprus, has been operating for 250 years;
· “Demel”, the Imperial confectionery in Vienna, on the second floor of which there is a cozy coffee house, which has been operating since the middle of the 19th century.
In addition, mobile coffee shops are extremely popular in Europe. The streets of Europe are driven by people on bicycles, which are hitched to a coffee machine. Anyone can taste a cup of coffee, but you will have to drink it on the street, although for most coffee lovers this circumstance is not a problem.
We don't know anything about the earliest coffee drinkers, but we almost certainly know that they lived in Ethiopia. Mentions of the drink "bansham" - and apparently, this is coffee - are found in Arabic historical documents relating to 900-1000 years. In addition to the properties of this drink, "useful" for the stomach, limbs, skin, ancient authors noted its "wonderful smell that penetrates the whole body."
Indeed, the aroma of coffee surprisingly absorbs into the skin. In those distant times, when regular baths were not available to people, in regions with limited water supplies, the deodorizing effect of coffee was highly valued.
Arab woman prepares coffee Arab woman prepares coffee according to an old local recipe.
One Arabic legend (circa 1250) says that during his wanderings, Sheikh Omar saw a wild coffee tree. The hungry sheikh decided to cook some fruit and drank the resulting invigorating drink. He offered to drink it to the weak and sick, and they recovered. From voluntary exile, the sheikh returned in triumph and proudly showed everyone the valuable fruits.
Among the most famous legends associated with coffee is the story of a shepherd who kept goats somewhere in Arabian land or in Egypt. It was he who noticed that the goats, after eating coffee fruits, become much more cheerful. The shepherd shared his observations with the abbot of the nearest monastery. He decided to test the properties of the plant on the monks, and soon they stopped falling asleep during night prayers.
Over the past 200 years, experts studying the origin of coffee have come to curious conclusions. One researcher claims that coffee existed in the time of Homer and that it was the same miracle drink, which Helen brought from Sparta to Troy. Another historian believes that King David received coffee from Abigail and that Esau and Ruth drank it.
There are records showing that in 1454 the Mufti of Aden visited Ethiopia and saw his countrymen drinking coffee there. Returning home, he ordered that coffee fruits be delivered to him; a drink from them not only cured him of weakness, but also gave vigor. An infusion of coffee fruits quickly gained popularity among the dervishes.
The use of coffee as a drink and its cultivation in Yemen undoubtedly began much earlier than 1454. However, it was in this year that the authorities officially recognized the tonic properties of coffee. The first coffee houses appeared in Mecca. They were called "cava canes". Initially, these establishments were intended for spiritual reflection, but very soon they turned into places of leisure where one could play chess, chat, enjoy singing, dancing and music. From Mecca, the tradition of arranging coffee houses spread to Aden, Medina, Cairo.
Coffee arrived in Constantinople in 1517, after Sultan Salim I entered Egypt. The tradition of drinking coffee began to spread throughout the region, and in 1530 took root in Damascus, and in 1532 in Aleppo. In Damascus, the most famous establishments were the "Coffee House of Roses" and the "Coffee House at the Gate of Salvation". There were no coffeehouses in Constantinople itself until 1554, but immediately after their appearance they became famous for the luxury of the situation, as the owners of the new "business" tried to attract visitors and outperform competitors. It was in coffee houses that meetings were held, both business and friendly, and over time they became a place for discussion on sensitive political topics.
Attempts to ban the sale and consumption of coffee - it came to the fact that "malicious coffee lovers" were sewn into leather bags and thrown into the waters of the Bosphorus - the state prudently stopped, deciding instead to impose a hefty tax on coffee
Reference: The first coffee houses
Middle of the 15th century, Mecca.
Mid-16th century, Constantinople.
1650 Oxford. The first English coffee house was opened by a Turkish immigrant named Jacobes.
1651, Livorno. The beginning of the Italian fashion for coffee houses.
1675, Paris. Later, in 1686, in French capital The legendary cafe Le Procope has opened - the oldest of the currently operating coffee houses in the world.
1683, Vienna. The legendary coffee house Zur Blauen Flasche ("At the blue bottle") was opened, which began the era of the famous Viennese coffee houses.
1690, Hamburg.
1720, St. Petersburg. It was then that mentions of the first coffee houses in Russia appeared.
Characteristic national formats of coffee houses
Arab countries. The coffee house as a men's club is a place for meetings, playing backgammon, smoking hookah and long conversations.
Italy. Espresso bars are small establishments, often without tables, where you can take a quick sip of espresso right at the counter.
Austria. Viennese coffee houses- similarity to a high society living room: a place for secular conversations and classes, luxurious salon interiors, a variety of coffee drinks and confectionery.
USA. Coffee shop chains: standardized service and interiors, functionality, a significant share of sales - coffee to go, no alcohol and no hot food. Actively began to develop from the mid-1980s (the most big network- Starbucks, which by 2004 had over 6.5 thousand coffee shops in many countries of the world).
Russia. Traditionally considered a "tea" country. The first modern coffee houses in the generally accepted sense of the word began to appear in 1996, and at the initial stage, coffee was taken as a role model. american model. The own Russian format of the coffee house is currently only being formed. While maintaining the focus on the main product, Russian coffee houses, as a rule, evolve towards inclusion in the menu alcoholic beverages up to draft beer as well as cold and hot dishes.
In 1600, the appearance of coffee in Venice. Big role Venetian merchants played a role in its distribution, who, along with other goods, also brought coffee beans.
And the first coffee house was called "Arab" and was located on Piazza San Marco (1654). Coffee houses were given lush and exotic names. The coffee house "Cafe Della Venezia Triofante" ("Florian"), which exists to this day, was very popular in Europe. It was the first coffee house in Venice, which could be visited not only by men, but also by women. They say that Casanova himself visited here.
Cafes immediately became the center of social life. People came to cafes not so much for the drink sold in them, but for social communication and making new acquaintances. Competition between numerous cafes forced the owners of establishments to compete among themselves in the art of table setting, creating cozy and original interiors, providing guests additional features- the construction of separate rooms for secret meetings or playing cards.
In America, the first coffee house was opened in 1670 in Boston by William Penn.
In the middle of the 17th century, coffee appeared in France. The drink was served at the court of King Louis XIV of France. He also allowed the sale of coffee.
The very first coffee house in Paris appeared in 1672 thanks to the Sicilian Francesco Proccopio. It was located directly opposite the famous theater "Comedie Francaise", and provided an opportunity for high society to arrange their meetings not in prim salons, but in modern democratic cafes. And since food for the inhabitants of this romantic country is not a means of maintaining their existence, but rather a kind of cult, very soon coffee from simple drink turned into a real treat.
The history of the appearance of coffee in Russia is ambiguous. Some researchers attribute the first mention of coffee to the 9th century. In the chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years" it is indicated that Kyiv prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich (c. 960 - July 15, 1015) often used the drink "kava". From Polish and Ukrainian languages "kava" is translated as "coffee". But we will never know if it was really a coffee drink.
Most researchers say that coffee appeared in Russia much later. The first documentary mention of coffee dates back to 1665, when the English physician Samuel Collins offered a recipe for a medicinal drink to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1629 - 1676). He characterized it as "Boiled coffee, known by the Persians and Turks, and usually after dinner, there is a fair amount of medicine against arrogance, runny nose and headaches"
The next step in the spread of coffee in Russia was made by Peter I (1672-1725). During his studies in Holland, Peter lived with a coffee merchant, where he tried and became addicted to this drink. Returning to Russia, Peter ordered that coffee be served at all balls and meetings. Can be found interesting fact- in Peter's time, it was not customary to drink coffee. He was "bitten off" or simply "ate".
Anna Ioannovna (1693 - 1740) was a great coffee lover, who drank a cup of coffee every morning. In 1740, the first coffee house "Four Frigates" was opened with her. But do not think that they used to drink it in order to cheer up. Peter III used coffee after cheerful and noisy night feasts, for the treatment of a hangover.
Coffee in Russia was used not only as a drink, but also as a means of divination. It all started with a gypsy woman who foretold the death of Emperor Paul I (1754-1801) on coffee grounds. Fortune telling on coffee grounds has not yet lost its relevance and is of interest to people.
In the 18-19 centuries, coffee began to spread throughout Russia, coffee shops were opened for both ordinary and noble people. Cafes began to attract creative people. Writers, composers, musicians, actors, artists liked to stay in them and just play chess. The most famous was the Pechkina cafe. Alexander Herzen, Vissarion Belinsky, Timofey Granovsky, Mitrofan Shchepkin, P. Molchanov, Mikhail Bakunin, A. Ostrovsky often came here.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the demand for coffee increased dramatically. And if at the end of the 19th century consumption was 8128 tons, then at the beginning of the 20th century it was already 12352 tons per year.
Revolution of 1917 and after Civil War negatively affected coffee consumption and reduced it to zero. In difficult times, people lacked necessary products not to mention coffee.
In the days of the USSR, coffee was considered a deficit and was issued in gift sets one bank. When they appeared in stores, queues for a coffee drink instantly lined up.
Since the 1990s, the era of coffee everywhere began in Russia. Coffee entered every home, cafe, restaurant, which allowed Russia to enter the top ten countries in terms of coffee consumption. According to the latest data, Russia ranks 57th.
The history of coffee: from legends to the first coffee houses
Very often we do not know anything about things familiar to us. So, for a large part of people around the world, coffee is an essential companion of the morning routine or meetings in a cafe. But did any of us wonder how this drink came about? We will tell you how coffee beans were discovered, about the journey of coffee through distance and time.
Unfortunately, no one knows exactly where and when coffee was discovered, but there are several legends about how people found out about it.
Ethiopian legend: chance find
The most popular coffee origin story tells of a young goat herder, Kaldi, from the Ethiopian province of Kaffa, who lived around the second half of the sixth century. According to legend, he noticed that his goats were extremely energetic and would not sleep through the night after eating the berries of a certain tree.
The young man reported his discovery to the abbot local monastery who decided to make a drink from these berries. The monk found that after drinking the drink he did not leave the feeling of cheerfulness for long hours evening prayers. Soon the news about the miraculous remedy for fatigue spread throughout the monastery.
As coffee knowledge spread eastward, coffee beans began to travel around the world.
Arabian Peninsula: plantations and first trade
The history of the emergence of coffee (judging by the first mentions in written sources) continues for Arabian Peninsula. The grains found by the Ethiopian shepherd were brought here, and for the first time they began to cultivate and sell coffee here. By the 15th century, coffee was grown in Yemen, and in the 16th century it was known in Persia, Egypt, Syria and Turkey.
Coffee was drunk not only at home, but also in special coffee houses that began to appear in the Middle East. The drink became more and more famous and people preferred it as an addition to any social activity.
People began to visit coffee houses not only to enjoy a drink and socialize, but also to listen to music, watch performances or play chess. Such institutions very quickly turned into information exchange centers, which is why they soon even began to be called “schools of wisdom”.
Thousands of pilgrims from all over the world who visited the holy places of Mecca every year continued to spread the knowledge about the "wine of Arabi".
History of coffee in Europe
European travelers to the Middle East returned home with stories of the unusual dark drink. To XVII century coffee penetrated Europe and became popular throughout the continent.
Some people reacted to the new drink with suspicion or fear, calling it "Satan's bitter invention." The clergy denounced coffee when it arrived in Venice in 1615. The controversy was so great that Pope Clement VII was forced to intervene. He decided to try the coffee before making his decision. The drink pleased him, and he gave his approval.
Despite heated debate, coffee houses quickly became the centers of social life in Europe in the main cities of England, Austria, France, Germany and Holland. In England, “penny universities” appeared: the name came from the popularity of coffee establishments in which people socialized and spent time over a cup of coffee that cost one penny.
Gradually, coffee began to replace the usual breakfast drinks of that time - beer and wine. Those who drank coffee instead of alcohol started the day fresh and energetic, and it is not surprising that the quality of their work improved significantly.
By the middle of the 17th century there were over 300 coffeehouses in London, many of which had acquired regular patrons, including merchants, suppliers, brokers and artists.
Thus, travelers from Europe contributed to the history of the creation of coffee and coffee culture in the western part of the world.
New world: from tea to coffee
In the middle of the 17th century, coffee was brought to New Amsterdam, later called New York by the British.
Although coffee houses appeared very quickly, tea continued to be the drink of choice in the New World until 1773, when the colonists rebelled against the high tax on tea imposed by King George III. The uprising known as the Boston Tea Party changed American preferences forever: coffee took precedence. First chosen as a substitute for a favorite drink, coffee was so popular with the population that even a reduced tax did not encourage people to return to tea.
Plantations around the world
Briefly, the history of coffee is the history of the drink being distributed alternately from one part of the world to another, so as demand increased, there was competition to cultivate coffee outside of Arabia.
In the end, in the 17th century, the Dutch managed to get seedlings. Their first attempts to grow grains in India failed, but they had some success in Botavia on the island of Java (now part of Indonesia).
The trees grew, and soon the coffee trade began to develop in Holland. Further, the cultivation of coffee trees expanded to the islands of Sumatra and Sulawesi.
Appearance in Latin America
In 1714, the mayor of Amsterdam presented the French king Louis XIV with a seedling of a coffee tree. The king ordered to plant it in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Paris. In 1723, a young naval officer, Gabriel de Clus, received a seedling of the royal coffee tree. Despite difficult navigation - terrible weather, a saboteur who tried to destroy the plant, and a pirate attack - the officer managed to transport the coffee tree safely to Martinique (Antilles in the Caribbean).
The planted tree blossomed, and over the next 50 years, about 18 million coffee trees grew on the island. A seedling taken from France became the progenitor of all coffee trees on caribbean island, South and Central America.
Brazilian coffee owes its existence to Francis de Mello Paletta, who was sent by the emperor to French Guiana for grains. The French did not want to share, but the wife of the French ruler, fascinated by Francis, gave him a huge bouquet of flowers before he sailed from the island. There were grains hidden in the flowers, enough to start cultivating coffee.
Missionaries and travelers, merchants and colonists continued to bring coffee beans to new lands. So, trees have been planted all over the world. To late XVIII century coffee has become one of the most profitable crops for export.
