First coffeehouse in London

In 1652 a trader named Edward returned to England from the orient accompanied by a Greek by the name of Pasqua Rosee and he knows how to prepare coffee.


Edward and his father in law were exposed to the rich Turkish traditions surrounding coffee in Smyrna. They wanted to recreate some of the exotic experience upon returning to London. Since they were ‘too grand and busy’ to open a coffeehouse, they sponsored Rosee to rise to the occasion.

In the same year he founded London’s first coffee house in St. Michael’s Alley, Cornhill in front of the Church leading to the Royal Exchange, with the hope that the merchants who congregate at the exchange would be willing to try out a drink of coffee.

Pasqua produced the first coffee ad in English a prospectus in which he proclaimed ‘The Virtue of the Coffee Drink’. What has been described as ‘an integrated retail and business space’ was no more than a simple stall. It featured decorated shutters providing rudimentary shelter for the customers when opened and a sign an image of the owner dressed in Oriental fashion.

Coffee was roasted and brewed in the shed and sold over the counter. Pasqua using coffee beans imported from the city of Izmir in the Ottoman Empire.

In 1657, the first coffee newspaper advertisement appeared, in the London based paper The Public Adviser, and that Pasqua dressed like a Turk. The sign of the turbaned head became a common symbol of the early coffeehouse.

Many followed Pasqua step, by 1739 there were 551 coffeehouses in London. By 1700, there were 2000 coffeehouse in London.
First coffeehouse in London