In contrast to today's rather mundane spawn of coffeehouse chains, the London of the 17th and 18th century was home to an eclectic and thriving coffee drinking scene.
London's coffee craze began in 1652 when Pasqua Rosée, the Greek servant of a coffee-loving British Levant merchant, opened London's first coffeehouse (or rather, coffee shack) against the stone wall of St Michael's churchyard in a labyrinth of alleys off Cornhill.