A few points on this interesting foray into  coffee. I’m not sure I could 
answer David Fahey’s  questions but let me make a few comparative observations.

Coffee does not have the same position in Australia as in the US. Australia was 
a nation of great tea drinking until the 1960s. In fact it was one of the 
world’s greatest consumers of tea per capita.  See for example the remarks in 
that still wonderful book by G. Blainey, Tyranny of Distance.  None of this or 
little was consumed in tea houses to my knowledge. I have not heard of tea 
houses in Australia, except maybe for Chinese people in the 19th century, but 
tea was consumed in the family. It was a drink of domesticity—in opposition to 
the  pub, the drink of masculinity in colonial Australia. Coffee was  largely 
introduced or popularised as a result of two things 1) massive Italian (and 
Greek) immigration after World War II and resultant Italian  restaurants and 
espresso and cappuccino coffee shops. E.g. Sydney’s famous Bar Italia. 2) 
instant coffee, horrible as  many people think.  That was the  sixties.

Chains are not so common in Australian eateries – except for hamburger chains 
such as MacDonalds.  Nor do I think chains are as common in  regard to coffee. 

Starbucks exists in  Australia but is generally regarded with revulsion in the 
circles I mix, though these may simply be pointed headed intellectual types.  
There have also been jokes in the (fringe) media about its allegedly watery 
coffee. 

I don’t think Australians would think of using  a coffee bar to do internet 
work or  portable computer work but I may be wrong.  That may say something 
about the larger conditions of life and sociability. 

One distinctive thing about the US is the prevalence of chains in many walks of 
life particularly in regard to food and beverages- -American business methods 
are important in this regard, including the example of other types of chains, 
and the huge size of the market making for enormous economies of scale. I 
wonder whether there is also the same level of persistence in old cultural 
habits among the  key immigrant groups concerned with coffee drinking. Greeks 
and Turks I know  in Australia would not dream  of drinking instant coffee or 
Starbucks. 

But there is something in  the development of specialised shops of this type. 
For example bread chains are becoming  popular in Australia, for the better 
bread they make in relation to supermarket bread.  There are chains of 
speciality cake shops, etc., wit generally declining quality as they become 
more ubiquitous. 

Generally coffee shops in Australia are part of an expansion of middle class 
culture involving new styles of leisure, less masculine or  rough than the pub—
similar to the shift from beer to wine. 

We are told that caffeine  is the world’s most common drug; so it’s good that 
we are having this discussion. 

Regards,

Ian Tyrrell


Quoting David Fahey <[log in to unmask]>:

> Two or three points:
> 
> What is a coffee house?  The concept has blurred with, for instance,
> bookstores selling fancy coffees (including chains such as Borders).
> 
> How has coffee house sociability changed?  I have in mind, for example,
> working with laptops at coffee houses and often Internet access too.
> 
> My underlying question: why the choice of place for coffee or whatever?
> 
> 
> 
> On Mar 9, 2005, at 6:28 PM, bruce erickson wrote:
> 
> > Re: Tim Horton's
> >
> > Does it detract from the Canadian chic that Tim
> > Horton's is now in Michigan (at least)?
> >
> > On a slightly more serious note, it seems to me that
> > the upscale coffee shop chain model followed the
> > beginning of the flavorful coffee boom, which began in
> > the Pacific Northwest in the late 1970s. Small and
> > somewhat Bohemian-style coffee shops started using
> > freshly roasted beans to make strong coffee, espresso,
> > etc. As they began to spread, it was only natural that
> > capitalism American style would develop, and from that
> > came small regional-chains (Allann Bros. and many
> > more). Starbucks, et al followed.
> >
> > It strikes me as I remember this that the
> > proliferation of micro-brewery beers started, or
> > restarted, around the same time in the same region.
> > And now many of them have grown and there are
> > mid-sized breweries that brew the recipes for several
> > labels. In a sense, history almost repeats itself on
> > this one.
> >
> > Forgive my rambling, obviously closer to coffee time
> > than beer time.
> >
> > Bruce A. Erickson
> > Le Moyne College
> >
> >
> >
> >
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