A History of the World in 6 Glasses is a great book by Tom Standage. Who realized that beverages were so important? Beer, wine, distilled spirits, coffee, tea and Coca-Cola are what Standage focuses on and he brings us the history of the drink’s prime era.
Some fun facts:
Beer was drunk by everyone because it was not as poisonous as the water was. And it used to be drunk with straws so that the drinkers would not drink the floating grains.
Greeks and Romans drank wine that was mixed with water.
Coffee houses were promoted as the new intellectual hangout of their era - in the 1700s!
The East India Company practically started a war in China so that they could get more tea imports.
Coca-Cola started as a medicine and was created by a patent medicine chemist.
With this book, beverages join the group of goods that the historical and modern world has bartered for and fought for. The irony is, he says, the next struggle will be for access for the most basic drink of all - water. Something to look forward to. Hmmm.
An entertaining and informative read. You don't have to be a history junkie to enjoy this.
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