When we think of Regency England, the beverage most likely to spring to mind is tea, but they loved their coffee too! Not, perhaps, as much as the Georgian period before loved their coffee, but many coffeehouses still existed and, despite the proliferation of grounds in the beverage, many people appreciated it.
As does my hero, Lord Devon, from Kiss or Dare, book 3 of the Debutante Dares series I'm writing for Wolf Publishing.
Here is one of the most interesting facts I found:
"By the dawn of the eighteenth century, contemporaries were counting between 1,000 and 8,000 coffeehouses in the capital [London] even if a street survey conducted in 1734 (which excluded unlicensed premises) counted only 551." -- Matthew Green, 2013
We can compare that to numbers from 2019 found here. 8,222 major brand coffeehouses, And another 17,000 + independent coffee shops and non-specialist shops where you can procure coffee. I like the idea of comparing the major brand number to the 8000 number for the 18th century and thinking that the saying about Starbucks--there's one on every corner--held true then too! Just ... not ... Starbucks. Of course.
Here are a few sources you might enjoy reading:
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