Britain Discovers Coffee Bars

Britain Discovers Coffee Bars is the 1961 satirical news report of the espresso machine's arrival in the British high st.

Britain Discovers Coffee Bars

Britain Discovers Coffee Bars is the 1961 satirical news report of the espresso machine's arrival in the British high street and the specific British discovery that the coffee could be made in a different way from the instant variety that the British coffee tradition had previously offered. The discovery is the cultural encounter. The coffee bars are the venues. The espresso is the revelation.

What This Reveals About Britain

What Britain's discovery of coffee bars reveals about the British relationship with the continental coffee culture in 1961: the country that discovers the coffee bar discovers the specific continental experience of the coffee consumed at the counter or the small table rather than the large mug consumed at home.

The Satirical Conclusion

Britain Discovers Coffee Bars is 1961's most caffeinated cultural revelation: the discovery is the encounter, the coffee bars are the venues, and the espresso is the revelation. Britain was drinking instant before. The coffee bar offered the alternative. Britain has been in coffee bars ever since.

See: The London Prat.

Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat

SOURCE: https://prat.uk/britain-discovers-coffee-bars/

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