Greg Jenner

No, I love a bit more boring. That's very much over here. But that has brought us on to the idea of Catholicism and coffee. So we've already mentioned Islam and that kind of big debate over those sort of theological questions of can you have this as a licit or illicit drink? How do you think the Pope, Pope Clement VIII, where do you think he stood on the moral question of coffee in the 1600s?

No, I love a bit more boring. That's very much over here. But that has brought us on to the idea of Catholicism and coffee. So we've already mentioned Islam and that kind of big debate over those sort of theological questions of can you have this as a licit or illicit drink? How do you think the Pope, Pope Clement VIII, where do you think he stood on the moral question of coffee in the 1600s?

That's a shame, though, because the line, this devil's drink is delicious, is a really good line. It's a good one. Stick that on a T-shirt.

That's a shame, though, because the line, this devil's drink is delicious, is a really good line. It's a good one. Stick that on a T-shirt.

Someone phone up Mespresso and say, we've got a new marketing line for you. So we've seen in the Ottoman world that the idea of the coffee house could be seditious and dangerous, but also there would be intellectual activity there. People gathering, discussing, debating political ideas. Does the same thing happen in Europe?

Someone phone up Mespresso and say, we've got a new marketing line for you. So we've seen in the Ottoman world that the idea of the coffee house could be seditious and dangerous, but also there would be intellectual activity there. People gathering, discussing, debating political ideas. Does the same thing happen in Europe?

Do we see the sudden arrival of a kind of coffee culture that is philosophical and enlightened and scientific? Yeah.

Do we see the sudden arrival of a kind of coffee culture that is philosophical and enlightened and scientific? Yeah.

Esquerose, Greek Orthodox, was it? Yeah, exactly. Immigrant to London. He published an advert for his coffee shop, which he listed coffee as having many health benefits, Sophie. He said it aided digestion, prevents drowsiness, prevents miscarriages, helps sore eyes and headaches, cures coughs, consumption, which is tuberculosis, scurvy, dropsy and gout. Wow.

Esquerose, Greek Orthodox, was it? Yeah, exactly. Immigrant to London. He published an advert for his coffee shop, which he listed coffee as having many health benefits, Sophie. He said it aided digestion, prevents drowsiness, prevents miscarriages, helps sore eyes and headaches, cures coughs, consumption, which is tuberculosis, scurvy, dropsy and gout. Wow.

What's modern? I mean, it's a wonder drug, clearly, in the 17th century. How would you market coffee now if you were going to add extra things it does? What's your additional claims?

What's modern? I mean, it's a wonder drug, clearly, in the 17th century. How would you market coffee now if you were going to add extra things it does? What's your additional claims?

We'll settle on that. It's not a ringing endorsement, but we'll settle for that, Jonathan. OK, so we've heard health benefits and claims being advertised by Pasqua Rose, who opens the first coffee house in London in 1652. And we get this intellectual culture in coffee houses. You know, they become places of more than just socialisation. Is that right? Yeah.

We'll settle on that. It's not a ringing endorsement, but we'll settle for that, Jonathan. OK, so we've heard health benefits and claims being advertised by Pasqua Rose, who opens the first coffee house in London in 1652. And we get this intellectual culture in coffee houses. You know, they become places of more than just socialisation. Is that right? Yeah.

The insuring firm. The insuring firm. The stock exchange that powers the City of London and the insurance industry both start in coffee houses. Correct. That's quite impressive.

The insuring firm. The insuring firm. The stock exchange that powers the City of London and the insurance industry both start in coffee houses. Correct. That's quite impressive.

And we also get some quite famous names from the 1600s showing up in these coffee houses to have some big, big old chats. Isaac Newton. Oh, yeah. And Edmund Halley, famous for his comet spotting abilities. They were founding members of the Royal Society of Science. They met and did a public demonstration in London's Grecian Coffee House. What did they demonstrate, Sophie? What did they do?

And we also get some quite famous names from the 1600s showing up in these coffee houses to have some big, big old chats. Isaac Newton. Oh, yeah. And Edmund Halley, famous for his comet spotting abilities. They were founding members of the Royal Society of Science. They met and did a public demonstration in London's Grecian Coffee House. What did they demonstrate, Sophie? What did they do?

If I say to you dissection, what animal do you think they might be dissecting live in a coffee house? A frog.

If I say to you dissection, what animal do you think they might be dissecting live in a coffee house? A frog.