According to Markman Ellis 2011 The Coffee-House: A Cultural History the first coffee-house appears in the early 1670s in Paris.

As one of the principal spaces, any colonial city that did aspire to greatness soon has a coffee-house.

The arrival of coffee-houses coincided with the introduction of a number of new alcoholic drinks, including brandy, eau-de-vie and other fruit-flavoured liquors, which were also considered medicinal.

Highly regulated in 1673, King Charles II gave the right to sell both kinds of new drinks, coffee and alcohol.

Viennese coffee houses opens in 1683. Through time the social practices, the rituals, the elegance create the very specific atmosphere of the Viennese café. Coffee Houses entice with a wide variety of coffee drinks, international newspapers, and pastry creations. Since October 2011, the Viennese Coffee House Culture is listed as “Intangible Cultural Heritage” by UNESCO.

Those were also well-known in Germany and Denmark at that time.

Several places claim to have developed the modern recipe in the 1940s. One version is attributed to Joe Sheridan, head of the restaurant and cafe at Foynes Airbase, a flying boat terminal in western Ireland. The drink used to be served to warm passengers that arrived from North America across the Atlantic.

When an American passenger asked “Is this Brazilian coffee?” to which Joe replied, “No, it’s Irish coffee!”