The history of coffee in Greece

The history of coffee in Greece has its roots in the period of the Turkish occupation when Greeks from Constantinople and Northern Greece were the first to know coffee together with the Turks. According to Alexandros Papadiamantis, the coffee habit spread after 1760 to the rest of Greece.

The "Beautiful Hellas" cafe on Aiolou Street was the luxurious hangout where captains, foreign diplomats, travelers, politicians and poets gathered to discuss the current affairs. Many mobilizations started from there.

At the beginning of the century there were no coffee shops so coffee shops and housewives bought raw green coffee and then roasted and ground it. The first specialty coffee shops, the so-called "kafepoieia" which were quickly renamed "kafekopetia", appeared at the beginning of the 20^u century. Gradually, the Greeks who until then preferred Turkish coffee, renamed it "Greek coffee" and established it as the most loved coffee for many years.

In the 1920s, following an order from the "Great Britain" hotel, French coffee was introduced to Greece, to be followed a little later by the other types. In the 1930s, many coffee roasters were opened, but in the Occupation, due to a lack of the species, those that survived indulged in the processing of coffee substitutes (chickpeas, barley, lupine).

At the International Exhibition of Thessaloniki in 1957, the "frappe" (French for "whipped") was accidentally discovered, a sparkling coffee of Greek invention that became the most famous and beloved drink in Greece.

At the end of the 90s, espresso forcefully invaded coffee shops, while from 2000 it also entered Greek households, due to the promotion of home espresso machines with capsules. Despite this, the traditional Greek coffee remains first in preference with great acceptance by the new generations as well.