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17th century Internet!

W

Wabbit

New Member
Found this article on coffee houses in 17th century London. They were the focus and centre of discussion, debates, news and rumours! VERY interesting!!!

I wonder how they died out? It's only in recent years that the coffee house has made a little of a come back and even then it's only in the more ritzy areas or tourist frequented areas. ( I mean the good coffee and not your basic mug of instant found at the greasy spoon :p ).

Anyway, it's all very interesting! Hope you find it so too :)

Read article here
 
That's quite interesting. I now have some tidbits of information to share at work, which happens to be, ironically, a coffee shop! :D
 
Glad you enjoyed it :) Share your tidbits freely!

You work in a coffee shop? Great :D Me working in a coffee shop would be a lot like an alcoholic being given a job in a wine shop :D
 
How do the people in the coffee shops make those really nice hot chocolates? The stuff in the supermarket seems to be missing something


They were the focus and centre of discussion, debates, news and rumours!
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I guess all those dodgy internet forums took over ;) Well that and the death of conversation.
 
How do we make our hot chocolates so good? It's a secret. You know, an I'd-tell-you-but-then-I'd-have-to-tickle-you kind of secret.

We just press a button and it comes out of the machine. I really have no idea why it's so much better, maybe because you don't have to make it yourself so it feels special.

That reminds me! I got tipped $5 from by a couple Americans today because I like my job and I made them laugh. Just goes to show, smiling really does have its benefits. :D
 
fluffy bunny said:
How do the people in the coffee shops make those really nice hot chocolates? The stuff in the supermarket seems to be missing something
.
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The trick is in the ingredients I think. Real milk and good chocolate powder (I suggest Ghiradelli, if it's available there. It's from San Francisco.) It could also be b/c the machine whips it up and makes it all frothy tho.

I'd like an even bigger re-emergence of coffee shops. Surely the conversation would be better over coffee than booze. I think I'll do my part and spend some of my pub budget at a few of the cool coffee shops here.
 
We have no coffee shop culture here. My friend asked me to meet him for a coffee, but we couldn't find anywhere that sold it. So we went for a pint instead.
 
fluffy bunny said:
How do the people in the coffee shops make those really nice hot chocolates? The stuff in the supermarket seems to be missing something



I guess all those dodgy internet forums took over ;) Well that and the death of conversation.
Click to expand...

English hot chocolate is rubbish, even the ones in the coffee shops are only a little better. Spanish hot chocolate is great! It's so rich and so thick you can stand your spoon in it :D I get mine imported by friends ;) Maybe you can find it here though? My fave brand is Valor.

:)

And yes, those dodgy forums took over :D lol


Ashlea said:
I'd like an even bigger re-emergence of coffee shops. Surely the conversation would be better over coffee than booze. I think I'll do my part and spend some of my pub budget at a few of the cool coffee shops here.
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Yes, so would I :)

They are a great place to meet and have conversations.


Freya said:
We have no coffee shop culture here. My friend asked me to meet him for a coffee, but we couldn't find anywhere that sold it. So we went for a pint instead.
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No, we don't and I wish we did! :)

That's why I like Europe. It's great! They have coffee shops everywhere! You can sit there for hours drinking coffee and talking. They also serve you great food. I wish we had that here. We don't have anything :( It's either the pub or nothing.
 
FLUFFY BUNNY! ( and others ) prepare to love me ( more )!

I found it! I found it! you can buy Spanish hot chocolate here at Spanish hot chocolate.com

BUY BUY BUY! Try it! :) I promise you it's fantastic! Nothing like the hot chocolate you buy here. It's SO SO SO RICH AND CHOCOLATEY! and it's so thick you can eat it with a spoon!

Trick to cooking: cook chocolate/milk untill it boils and then remove it from heat. Wait till it cools some and then re-heat it until boils again. Repeat this 2 or three times and your hot chocolate will be much thicker! :)
 
Wabbit said:
FLUFFY BUNNY! ( and others ) prepare to love me ( more )!

I found it! I found it! you can buy Spanish hot chocolate here at Spanish hot chocolate.com

BUY BUY BUY! Try it! :) I promise you it's fantastic! Nothing like the hot chocolate you buy here. It's SO SO SO RICH AND CHOCOLATEY! and it's so thick you can eat it with a spoon!

Trick to cooking: cook chocolate/milk untill it boils and then remove it from heat. Wait till it cools some and then re-heat it until boils again. Repeat this 2 or three times and your hot chocolate will be much thicker! :)
Click to expand...

To be honest after all that effort, it just wasn't that nice. Now there is one place in Leeds which makes the best hot chocolate that I'm trying to steal the recipe off but their counter espionage keeps foiling my attempts to elucidate the secret ingredients :rolleyes: Will keep you posted on future incidents as they develop.
 
You have to love The Economist.:) This is an excellent article, I can't believe that I didn't find this thread earlier. What a great read!. The founding of Lloyd's of London was interesting, as well as how Pope wrote The Rape of the Lock. That has always been one of my favorite poems.

Here's some other neat information

http://www.koffeekorner.com/koffeehistory.htm
 
Glad you enjoyed the article! I have read it a number of times. It's fascinating!

I read your link and
1905
The first commercial espresso machine is manufactured in Italy.
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is a wonderful year :D
 
We have a little shop near us (about 6 miles) that makes wonderful sandwhiches, great coffee, and hot chocolate that you would walk miles for.
Our Barnes & Noble book shop also has a nice little coffee shop and internet area.

Down town in the historic area we also have a coffee/hot chocolate shop that is wonderful for sitting and talking. Life is good......(sometimes):)
 
muggle said:
We have a little shop near us (about 6 miles) that makes wonderful sandwhiches, great coffee, and hot chocolate that you would walk miles for.
Click to expand...

Sounds like heaven!

Down town in the historic area we also have a coffee/hot chocolate shop that is wonderful for sitting and talking. Life is good......(sometimes):)
Click to expand...

Yep, it's often the simple things that make it so :)
 
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