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When the world's first coffee house, called Kiva Han, opened in 1475, piping hot Turkish coffee was the only menu item served to its patrons in wealthy Constantinople (now Istanbul).

By the 1500's coffee houses had spread to Europe. In Vienna they improved the drink by filtering the coffee grounds, and sweetening it with milk and sugar.

Of course, you need munchies with your coffee, don't you? While English coffee houses still offered only the hot brew and newspapers, the dessert-friendly Austrians also served sweet pastries and other treats.

More than 500 years later, the modern coffee house continues to meet the needs of its clients. Through the lazy days of summer, customers rarely stay cool with a cup of steaming coffee at the beach! Instead, most are desperate for something tall and icy. Enter the Italian soda and the fruit smoothie.

An Italian soda is a soft drink made from carbonated water and flavoured syrup. Adding milk, cream or whipped cream is sometimes known as an Italian Cremosa or French soda.

Frozen Italian soda is called an Italian freeze. This drink is not too sweet, but it's very refreshing. Here at Damascus, we sell lots of them at outdoor summer events.

Italian soda features a variety of fruity flavours like raspberry, strawberry, and peach, and unconventional flavours like chocolate, amaretto, and even peanut butter. To make your own Italian soda, fill 2/3 of a 16-ounce tumbler with ice, add 2 oz of your favourite fruit-flavoured syrup and top off the glass with carbonated water. Stir vigorously!

If a sparkly carbonated drink doesn't suit you, maybe you'd like a fruit smoothie? The best smoothies contain real fruit, not just syrup from a carton. Damascus offers a popular drink called a Caribbean Splash.

You can make your own version by combining some chopped mango and a few strawberries with some cranberry juice and a small scoop of vanilla ice cream in your blender. Blend the ingredients together and this refreshing treat should fill a 16 ounce cup.

You can fine-tune the recipe to suit your own taste. Would you like more juice and less fruit? Or would you like it lighter? Substitute low-fat frozen vanilla yogurt for the ice-cream.

At the modern coffee house, you can still debate politics, business and poetry, except now you have a choice between hot and cold drinks. (But please don't plan any wars.)

* Kevin Steen is a true coffee lover and proprietor of Damascus Coffee House in Riverview. Do you have a coffee question for Kevin? Visit him at the shop, or call him at 855-4646.