Number 15 Fleet st. (Coffee)

More coffee history. This club appears to have had a short life in the 1950s

Coffee Log / Coffee Universities

One of many Nescafe cake recipes (John Bull magazine, London  1958). Instant coffee is still used for cake flavouring...in fact in some kitchens that is what is now kept for.

Below that is the actual editorial matter which would have compelled Nescafe to advertise - to the right it shows 3 early coffee houses including the Turk's Head in Cambridge - so popular that nearby pubs suffered. One Cambridge professor declared that a man could pick up more useful knowledge in a coffee-house than at university - a claim I have heard made for the original Peet's in Berkeley!

Coffee Log

One swiss roll, Nescafé mocha icing, browning or brown colouring, chopped pistachio nuts, sprig of holly or a robin. Beat in sufficient browning to make the Nescafé mocha icing similar in colour to tree bark. Cut a slice off the swiss roll and mash it with a fork, form into shape of a small stumpy branch. Place on top of the swiss roll near to one end fixing it with a little icing. Spread the surface with icing and cover the round joins at each end of the roll with icing. Mark with a fork to resemble tree bark. Decorate with pistachio nuts and holly or a robin.

    MOCHA ICING.–2 level teaspoonfuls Nescafé, 2-3 oz. margarine, 2 level tablespoonfuls cocoa, 8 oz. icing sugar, 2 tablespoonfuls hot water. Beat all the dry ingredients to a cream gradually adding the water.

The Penny Universities - coffee quiz

From a publicity leaflet for  The Penny Universities  a history of the coffee-houses. 'Penny University' is a term originating from the 18th-century coffee houses in London, England. Instead of paying for drinks, people were charged a penny to enter a coffeehouse. Once inside, the patron had access to coffee, company, various discussions, pamphlets, bulletins, newspapers, and the latest news and gossip. Reporters called "runners" went around to the coffeehouses announcing the latest news. No need for a runner in modern java joints- all you need now is the Wi-Fi code… I do not have the answers, the only one I can get is 5 (clue the R of the L)

1. Who was the famous physician who experimented with coffee as a possible antidote to melancholia and alcoholism ?
2. What was the "wooden oracle", referred to by Pepys and where was it ?
3. How did the Royal Society come into being ?
4. Who gave Nell Gwyn her first part on the stage and who wrote the play ?
5. A great poem grew out of coffee-house gossip. What was it and who wrote it ?
6. Who was Angier and what was "Angier's Fume" ?
7. Who was the privateering doctor whose adventures inspired Robinson Crusoe ?
8. Which notorious coffee-house in Covent Garden was kept by an old Etonian ?
9. A fantastic instance of wagering through the medium of an insurance policy concerned the sex of a distinguished diplomat. Who was he and what was the outcome ?
10. Who was the Aberdeen tailor who turned quack and was knighted ?