At that time, the Ottoman capital of Istanbul was the richest and most populous city in the world, a melting pot of colliding cultures, flavours, tastes and ideas. And it was in Istanbul that the first historic coffee house, Kiva Han, opened in the late 15th century, making Istanbul the birthplace of coffee house culture.
The coffee house soon became a distinctive part of the Ottoman Empire way of life, bringing citizens together across cultural and societal divides. As the popularity of coffee grew, coffee houses became more numerous, and by the end of the nineteenth century there were nearly 2,500 coffee houses in Istanbul alone.
Coffee had become the ‘wine of the orient’, a social drink, similar to how we see it now. Coffee houses functioned as bustling community hubs, providing new spaces for socialising, playing backgammon and watching plays. But the Arabs also saw coffee as an intellectual drink, calling it “the milk of thinkers and chess players.” Coffee houses were places for spirited competition and spicy debate. With no printing press, the coffee house became the mouthpiece of the city, where theories were proposed and challenged, information was exchanged, and social barriers were blurred, as individuals from all backgrounds sat side by side in the captivating atmosphere.
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