English coffeehouses in the 17th and 18th centuries

In 17th- and 18th-century England, coffeehouses served as public social places where men would meet for conversation and commerce. A penny bought admission and a cup of coffee. During the mid-17th century, travellers introduced coffee as a beverage; previously it had been consumed mainly for its supposed medicinal properties. Coffeehouses also served tea and hot chocolate as well as light meals.

The historian Brian Cowan describes English coffeehouses as "places where people gathered to drink coffee, learn the news of the day, and perhaps to meet with other local residents and discuss matters of mutual concern". The absence of alcohol created an atmosphere allowing more serious conversation than in an alehouse. Coffeehouses also played an important role in the development of financial markets and newspapers.

Topics discussed included politics and political scandals, daily gossip, fashion, current events, and debates surrounding philosophy and the natural sciences. Historians of the 17th and 18th centuries often associate English coffeehouses with the intellectual and cultural history of the Age of Enlightenment: they were an alternate sphere, supplementary to the university. And political groups frequently used coffeehouses as meeting places.