Translations:History of coffee/51/en

Poland

Coffee reached the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th century, primarily through merchants trading with the neighbouring Ottoman Empire. The first coffee shops opened a century later. The intake of coffee has grown since the change of government in 1989, though consumption per capita is lower than in most European countries. During the Communist period, where there were shortages of everything, including coffee, Poles developed their own substitute to coffee, Inka, made from roasted cereal. Nowadays, Poland is experiencing an explosion of coffee consumption through rapid expansion of cafes, and new trends such as the specialty coffee.