Yes, but nowhere is it implied that it is because of something inherent to coffee. It probably could have been another delicious drink, like hot chocolate. That doesn't diminish the content of this article though.
First such cities didn't have any lack of places to socialize (and potentially conspire), for milenia before coffee houses.
Second, the same things (nation building, empire dissolutions, revolutions) happened all around Europe and shortly all around the world from the 18th to 20th century, whether they had a coffeehouse culture or not.
But coffee is (1) addictive, and (2) induces wakefulness and action.
I've seen loose theories that coffee was the real reason for the Industrial Revolution. It's not hard to imagine the extra energy it produces to also go into political efforts.
This is like saying it's hard to make chocolate, tea, or many other ultra-popular foods/drinks palatable.
Step 1 of 1: add sweetener. Not hard at all.
Many people (including me) would argue that coffee is delicious without sweetener, though. Perhaps you don't understand how people like it, but that's far from a universal opinion.
probably things like mild peer pressure, fitting in with the grown ups, etc, much like smoking, and maybe even drinking.
Yes, social factors increase usage of all these things and people will force themselves to do it, but that's not universal.
I also love the flavor of smoking tobacco products (including cigarettes), although I only smoke a few times a year for social, health, and convenience reasons.
obviously, tastes vary strongly, so both groups must exist.
in my case i escape the peer pressure by discovering that strong coffee actually made me sick, and i used that as an excuse to reject coffee even in situations where it was considered impolite to reject an offer when i was visiting people.
Now I've "matured" and realized coffee is a drug. Or, if you will, a medicine. You don't take medicine because it tastes good, but because the effects are, on balance, good for you.
My theory/speculation is that if you consume something that tastes badly but makes you feel good, the human body will over time translate the expectation into "this tastes good".
Maybe that's part of how addiction works. Maybe that explains "acquired tastes". And maybe my uneducated guess is completely wrong :)
Though I was thinking of the caffeination of the workforce. And coffee has more of that than tea.