The tradition of drinking coffee in Poland dates back to the 17^th century (though initially a lot of people showed distrust towards it).
In noble houses and manors, consuming this beverage was a sort of ritual — the green coffee beans were bought, then they were roasted in special devices, brewed in melting-pots, and served in cups. To this end, among highly qualified servants, not only medicine-maids were employed but also coffee-maids, who took care of the condition of coffee utensils and guaranteed the highest quality of the served beverage.
By the turn of the 20^th century, every house was equipped with a coffee roaster.
Coffee devices started to fall into oblivion among others thanks to Tadeusz Tarasiewicz’s entrepreneurship. The failure of his first idea also indirectly contributed to it; Tarasiewicz resigned from his post of director of the Galician Bank in order to set up a shop with tea in Kraków. But the enterprise did not provide the expected profits; what is more, it turned out to be a complete disaster.
In 1882, Tarasiewicz moved to Warsaw where he set up another, innovative for those times, enterprise – the Pluton coffee roasting plant, the first one in Poland.
Initially, he had difficulties persuading clients to buy pre-roasted coffee (the volume of coffee decreased in the process of roasting, and because of that it seemed to be more expensive than the one prepared at home on a frying pan). As Kordian Tarasiewicz (the founder’s grandson) mentioned in a conversation with Jakub Kowalski in Tygodnik Powszechny [General Weekly], the new place also aroused curiosity – people lined up at the door in order to smell the intensive aroma of coffee, which they could not get at home.
Finally, the success of Pluton affected the change of habits. Roasted and ground coffee shortened the process of preparing this beverage and settled on shop shelves permanently. Green coffee beans disappeared from the market for many years. Today, we can buy them again (but this time they are much more expensive) and roasting at home has become popular among people who value the slow process.

Elaborated by Editorial team of Małopolska’s Virtual Museums,

 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Poland License.

Coffee is not always a beverage prepared from cocoa beans. Cereal grains (chicory) and even less obvious ingredients like acorns are also used to make coffee. In Obyczaje w Polsce od Średniowiecza do czasów współczesnych, Lidia Korczak writes about coffee prepared from broad beans, wheat or roasted peas.

Acorn coffee was most popular in the pre-war years and during the World War II when substitutes for the black beverage were particularly valuable.

Today, acorn coffee is making a comeback as an alternative to natural coffee. It is available in eco-friendly shops. Acorn coffee from the Bug river region has even been entered into the regional products register.

Elaborated by Editorial team of Małopolska’s Virtual Museums,

 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Poland License.

See: 
Device — coffee roaster
Coffee grinder

In Poland, in the 19^th century, the habit of drinking coffee with almond milk was adopted. The very thought of coffee served in this way stimulates the imagination (taste, smell). Although nowadays hardly anyone prepares coffee in this way (it is easier to buy coffee with an almond aroma in a store or in a coffee roasting shop), such milk can easily be prepared at home.
Just soak peeled almonds or flaked almonds in boiled or mineral water (in a proportion of one glass of almonds – about 150 g – to three glasses of water) and leave it overnight. Then pour the water off, mix the almonds in a blender with three glasses of fresh water, add one more glass, then drain the liquid through a piece of gauze and it’s ready! The almond mass can be used as cheese or as one of the ingredients for a cake. You can also make a homemade marzipan by adding sugar (in the proportion of 40–30%). To make the mass stick together more easily, add a few drops of almond oil, rose water or, for example, amaretto.
The milk prepared in this way can be stored in a glass bottle for several (preferably two) days. Marzipan, due to its unique flavour, will probably be used up much quicker.

Read also how acorn coffee was prepared and how the first coffee roasting plants were created in Poland.
 

Elaborated by Editorial team of Małopolska’s Virtual Museums,  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Poland License.

See: 
Device — coffee roaster
Coffee grinder
Coffee pot

Zanim Polacy docenili smak kawy, stosunkowali się względem niej raczej negatywnie, czego wynikiem są różne komentarze. Warto tu przytoczyć pierwszą znaną w literaturze opinię Andrzeja Morsztyna, który wspominał:
„W Malcie-śmy, pomnę, kosztowali kafy,
Trunku dla Turków... Ale tak szkarady
Napój, tak brzydka trucizna i jady,
Co żadnej śliny nie puszcza za zęby,
Niech chrześcijańskiej nie plugawią gęby...”[1].

Opracowanie: Redakcja WMM,

 Ten utwór jest dostępny na licencji Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa 3.0 Polska.