The European coffee culture started somewhen in the 14th century in Turkey and stread out all over the continent via Italy. Starbucks invented the idea of coffeehouses and coffee culture - the home away from home - first in the 1970s, but it never became the same like in Europe.
When you order a coffee in Europe you usually get it served by a waiter or a waitress and it comes in a nice ceramic cup or glass with a saucer. Next to the cup lies a teaspoon, a package of sugar and most of the time a little chocolate or a biscuit. Depending on the country you get served a glass of water beside your coffee and either find a little pot of milk on each individual table, or get a little cup of half and half beside your coffee. In America your ordered coffee will come most of the time in a to-go paper cup with a plastic lid on it. Only in a few American coffee shops you have a choice to get your coffee in a ceramic cup.
A latte does not even exist in Europe. In case you order one anyways, you would ether get a glass of milk or a Latte Macchiato in a glass 2/3 milk, 1 shot of espresso and 1/3 milk foam in it. A large Mocha with two added shots of espresso ordered in Europe will probably cause you a heart attack. Coffee in Europe is not necessarily like coffee in America.
Another difference is the size you can choose for your coffee. In Europe you often only have the choice between small/cup or big/mug, but this is only for drip coffee and cafe au lait. All the others like Cappuccino or Latte Machiato mostly just come in one size. In America, you sometimes also can only choose between small and large, which is usually for drip coffee, but between 8oz, 12oz, 16oz, and 20oz or small, medium, large or many more.
Next point is the check out. In Europe you usually order your coffee, the waiter or waitress takes a not of your order and when you're about to leave the café you order the check or pay at the bar. In America you pay your coffee right after the order and even before you get the coffee. In case you want another cup, you go to the counter and order as well as pay again.
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| Cafés in Europe |
Once the coffee is prepared by the Barista, the usual coffee consumer
acts different depending on ones continent of origin. The European
coffee consumer mostly visits a café in company and spends quite a while
chatting, reading or simply enjoying the taste of a well prepared cup
of coffee. Drinking coffee is a social activity. European cafés are cozy
and nicely furnished places, often with an inside as well as outside
area, which invites the customers to sit down and relax. Europeans enjoy
and kind of celebrate drinking coffee other than the usual American
(there are always exceptions, of course). The American coffee consumer
orders, pays, takes the in a paper or plastic cup served coffee (depends
if hot or iced coffee) and leaves. If one decides to sit down in the
coffeehouse, it is usually to get work done on the laptop, to study or
even to meet someone for a business purpose. Way less relaxing and
enjoyment of the coffee taste. Americans often even add one up to several flavors to the coffee so they don't have to taste the flavor but
this get the energy kick of the caffeine.On a usual summer day in Europe, you would see the streets full with people sitting outside of coffee shops (cafés) talking and enjoying the moment. Contrast walking through the streets in an American city, you would pass a lot of people with a coffee cup in their hand seemingly inhaling the coffee while they're walking.
In the end, the consumption of coffee is a lifestyle in Europe and a routine in America. Americans consume coffee to be awake and speed up. Europeans ironically use coffee as an opportunity to slow down and enjoy life a little.
So the next time you are travelling in Europe, take some time to sit down in one of the several café and enjoy a nice cup of coffee with your travelling companion, and don’t you even think about taking that coffee with you.
American Starbucks
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