Famous coffee drinkers and quotes
Published on Dec 22, 2011
IT touches the lives of many on a daily basis so it is no surprise coffee has been a huge talking point among the rich and famous since it was first sipped.
If rumours are to be believed, Stephen Fry gave Charles and Camilla weasel coffee as a wedding present and the same fine drink was once defined on Star Trek as “the finest organic suspension ever devised.”
But it’s not just in outer space the drink is popular, in ‘A Tramp Abroad’ Mark Twain stated “The average American’s simplest and commonest form of breakfast consists of coffee and beefsteak.”
It is also alleged healing properties are contained within the drink and as long ago as 1699 in an article entitled ‘England’s Happiness Improved,’ it was observed that “Moderately drunk, coffee removes vapours from the brain occasioned by fumes of wine or other strong liquors, eases pains in the head, prevents sour belchings and provokes appetite.”
The French philosopher Voltaire reportedly drank fifty cups of coffee a day, Bach wrote his Kaffee Kantate as a tribute to his favourite drink, Verdi alleged “Coffee is balm to the heart and spirit” while Sir James Mackintosh announced “the powers of a man’s mind are directly proportionate to the quantity of coffee he drinks”
Benjamin Franklin was another fan of the black gold and famously informed a meeting that “Among the numerous luxuries of the table…coffee may be considered as one of the most valuable. It excites cheerfulness without intoxication, and the pleasing flow of spirits which it occasions, is never followed by sadness, languor or debility.”
Another famous coffee drinker was Pope Clement VIII who made great contribution to the coffee popularization among Christians by lifting a longstanding coffee ban while Ludwig van Beethoven approached his coffee brewing with the precision of a scientist counting out and using 60 beans for each cup he drank.
The reign of Louis XV is fondly remembered for giving rise to aristocratic cuisine and he went as far as to grow his own crop of coffee beans in greenhouses on the Versailles Palace grounds. He handpicked them, roasted them and ground them and derived the greatest pleasure from making a stately entrance with coffee pot in hand, ready to pour for his guests.
Fred Allen believed the best coffee originated on mainland Europe and was fond of informing anyone who would listen that, “English coffee tastes like water that has been squeezed out of a wet sleeve.”
Somewhat bizarrely Eddie Izzard once stated, “I like my coffee like I like my women. In a plastic cup,” but perhaps we should all take on board the words of Sheik-Abd-al-Kadir who stated “Coffee is the common man’s gold, and like gold, it brings to every person the feeling of luxury and nobility.”
Members of the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe