Coffee Houses in Europe: How Can you Define the Best One?
The history of coffee houses in Europe were developed with the arrival of coffee, a new and delicious drink able to wake up people’s imagination and strength.
From wine, the typical drink of pubs, which slows down ideas and conversation, everything changed with the introduction of coffee, a new dynamic and active drink. In England, people began to gather together, discuss new ideas, and converse in coffee houses during the mid-17th century.
Nowadays, Europe is covered in different coffee houses. And, according to the European Coffee Symposium, the winners of the Best Independent Coffee Shop in Europe 2017, are the Danish Coffee Collective, which provides complete quality control along the entire coffee chain, from farmers to consumers, in order to guarantee an equity balance and match between the quality of life for farmers and quality standards for consumers. It was launched in 2007, and was based on a transparent trade model: the producer is paid at least 25% more than the Fair Trade price, and Coffee Collective managers visit farmers every year. The Coffee Collective team is composed of well reputable baristas in Denmark, such as Klaus Thomsen, World Barista Champion 2006, and twice Danish Barista Champion; and Casper E. Rasmussen, World Cup Tasting Champion 2008 and European champion with the Danish Barista Team 2008, just to mention few. This golden team runs the business collectively.
To be honest, coffee culture is very different from one European country to another, and it’s impossible to define who is the best, so let’s take a few examples:
An iconic French coffee shop is Cafè Procope, the oldest Parisian cafe, founded in 1686, said to be the place where Benjamin Franklin put the finishing touches to the American Constitution and philosopher Diderot drafted his encyclopedia. Do you really think that people go there to drink coffee?!? Please! That place is an immersion into human history! Coffee is perfect, but it’s the atmosphere that makes it unforgettable!
In England, The Grand Café is now an Oxford institution, founded in 1650, according to Samuel Pepys’ Diary, “an amazing place full of history and taste”, where you can feel as if the Queen is really sitting by you, breaking official protocol with a coffee, instead of tea!
In Italy, the coffee tradition started in Piazza San Marco, Venice, with Caffè Florian, established in 1720. Cafè Procope is the oldest coffee house in continuous operation, but in Italy, from Trieste to Napoli, every city has its own coffee shop tradition and experience which is directly related to time philosophy. In Milan it’s more common to drink the perfect espresso in a few minutes at a bar counter, while in Naples it’s a must to sit for a while and drink a coffee with the typical cream, made of sugar and the first drops of espresso coffee falling from the machine.
Bocca in Amsterdam Kerkstraat, finalist at Best Independent Coffee Shop in Europe 2016, is the perfect place to drink a tremendously good coffee prepared with various methods, but, if you want to live the perfect coffee experience with Spanish flavor, you have to try a cup in Cafè Comercial, with its 125 years of history, the oldest coffee shop in Madrid. It is now run by the 4th generation of the same family and according to a very old tradition, that has its origins in Naples (Italy), it’s possible to leave a coffee already paid, named “Caffè Sospeso”, this means a coffee for anyone who in not in the condition to pay for it, a singular and small sign of solidarity.
A coffee is not denied to anyone!
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Giovanna is a coffee writer and book author, with a particular expertise in web visibility and online marketing solutions for Italian Coffee Roasters and Ho.Re.Ca realities.
Giovanna in numbers: 2 Master’s degrees at Milan State University (Food Sciences 107/110 and Agricultural Science 110/110), 1 Master in Management of Development Projects and 1 Scholarship to Escuela Politecnica Nacional of Quito, Ecuador, where she was involved in Cocoa and Coffee Projects, 7 years teaching in Cooking Schools in Italy and Germany, 4 spoken and written languages, 10 years as freelance Journalist for Notiziario Torrefattori, 3 published books and 1 badge as Foreign Press released by German Photojournalist Association (Card No. BPA12A19895-017).
