Man being social in nature lives in groups and communities. His activities from happy occasions to sad moments have group involvement. He avoids being solitary and likes always to be in company of his near and dear ones like relatives and friends. He makes friends out of strangers to add more and more numbers to his company of the known. The favorite pastime with the members of his company is drinking. This kind of socialization has been in practice since long back and is still prevalent today. Among the drinks that the humans have habituated themselves of drinking together is the coffee. Coffee has the distinction of having the second place next only to water that is drunk by almost all people of the world.



There have been periods in history where drink houses were built for the travelers to relax themselves after their long and torturous journeys. Coffee was served as it was considered to be the stimulating drink that refreshed the tired travelers. Such drink houses cast their spell on the later day cities giving birth to coffee houses and the modern day versions being the cafes. Today cafes can be found in every downtown area of the cities all over the world. Irrespective of the cultural background of the cities, the people of all walks of life haunt the cafes. Cafes are the popular gathering places for socialization. The meetings could be for friendly chats or for business talks. Friends pour out their heart over one another, the working class relaxes after their hectic day, and business people make or close deals. This is all done just over one or two cups of coffee. The aroma and the fragrance that hangs over the place give some heavenly experience to the coffee drinkers.

In contrast to the cafes, if the people hang out near the bars, they would be considered as drunkards. The drinks supplied there are more of intoxicating in nature and less of stimulating. While the main composition of the coffee being the presence of caffeine, its invigorating quality refreshes and makes alert whoever drinks it. In many societies it is considered to be the social drink. The popularity of the cafe culture is evident from the sheer volume of the coffee shares that is traded in the stock market the world over and the competition over the establishment of coffee houses by some coffee brands. Whatever it may be, the magic of coffee has retained its spell.