Post by robeiae on Aug 2, 2018 9:53:16 GMT -5
Interesting piece: How Alcohol and Caffeine Helped Create Civilization
I particularly like this quote:
Interesting how that coincides with Weber's Protestant Ethic.
FYI, here's the book that's the source of the above quote: www.amazon.com/History-World-6-Glasses/dp/0802715524/
I particularly like this quote:
As writer Tom Standage put it,
“The impact of the introduction of coffee into Europe during the seventeenth century was particularly noticeable since the most common beverages of the time, even at breakfast, were weak ‘small beer’ and wine. Both were far safer than water, which was liable to be contaminated … Coffee … provided a new and safe alternative to alcoholic drinks. Those who drank coffee instead of alcohol began the day alert and stimulated, rather than relaxed and mildly inebriated, and the quality and quantity of their work improved … Western Europe began to emerge from an alcoholic haze that had lasted for centuries.”
“The impact of the introduction of coffee into Europe during the seventeenth century was particularly noticeable since the most common beverages of the time, even at breakfast, were weak ‘small beer’ and wine. Both were far safer than water, which was liable to be contaminated … Coffee … provided a new and safe alternative to alcoholic drinks. Those who drank coffee instead of alcohol began the day alert and stimulated, rather than relaxed and mildly inebriated, and the quality and quantity of their work improved … Western Europe began to emerge from an alcoholic haze that had lasted for centuries.”
FYI, here's the book that's the source of the above quote: www.amazon.com/History-World-6-Glasses/dp/0802715524/