Why It's Called A Coffee House, Not A Tea House

When you walk into a coffee house anywhere in the world, you can get either coffee or tea. So why aren't these houses called "coffee and tea" or "tea and coffee" or "tea houses?" Is there a worldwide conspiracy going on against tea? Let's us look back in time to examine the history of both coffee and tea, to see why today the coffee house is king.

History Of Tea

The discovery of tea was made over 5,000 years ago in China. The Emperor was sitting in his house sipping on some water that had been boiled, when some leaves from a nearby bush blew into it. He noticed the liquid was brown so he gave it a try. He gave it a sip, found it very refreshing and liked the zip it put in his energy level.

Tea consumption quickly spread to every house in China. Tea was then introduced to Japan by a Buddhist Monk who brought back tea seeds from China because he was impressed how the tea helped his concentration abilities while he was meditating. Since then tea has always been associated with Zen Buddhism.

After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, a lot of people associated tea with the ceremony Kamikaze Pilots had before their missions.

Since then, until recently, tea has never made a full recovery. Its association with the war, and the connection tea has around the world with religious ceremonies, even today, prevents it from sharing the marquee with King Coffee.

History Of Coffee

There were no coffee houses yet, when coffee beans first started growing out of the ground in Ethiopia in the tenth century. It wasn't long until the beans were moved into Northern Africa by Arab traders and mass cultivated.

Soon the beans were spread to the European and Indian Cultures. The first coffee house was Kiva Han which opened in Istanbul in 1471. Coffee entered Europe through Italy, brought there by Muslim traders.

One big reason coffee is king is, if you are a Muslim, you are allowed to drink it. They were allowed to replace wine with coffee in their diet. Additionally, in 1600, coffee got another big boost when Pope Clement approved it, over the objections of some who felt the Muslim drink was evil.

When you have all the Muslims and the Catholics together, you have a huge market. All these people have their own coffee in their houses every day. During World War II, we were drinking coffee, and they were drinking tea