Coffeehouse keeping

In the 1870s, Gabrovo had ten coffeehouses. One of the oldest was Motkov's, founded in 1850. Each became a kind of 'small parliament', where men gathered, rested and discussed local and world affairs while drinking Turkish coffee prepared in heated sand. From the 1860s onwards, coffeehouses also began serving tea and a white sugar preserve. Coffeehouse keepers often combined this business with other trades, such as barbering.