-
10,000 BCE
Discovery of Beer
Upon the rise of the Neolithic Revolution, cereal grains started to be cultivated. Early humans found out that these grains could be stored for months on end and be used to make gruel. A more amazing discovery after that when gruel had been left sitting around for a couple of days. When yeasts from the air mixed with the sugars from the gruel, beer was created. This set a trend for a few thousands of years ahead for beer to be the most desired drink. Beer was used in almost all social occasions. -
Period: 10,000 BCE to 4000 BCE
Neolithic Revolution
During this time, nomadic hunters and gatherers shifted from their previous ways of living in caves and huts while killing game on the run, to taking up farming and settling in one place. The crops these humans farmed allowed for villages to grow and expand while not having to move from place to place just to maintain a steady food supply. This new type of living set the tone for civilizations to come and provided the right ingredients in order to discover beer. -
6000 BCE
Pottery
The first beers were brewed in hollowed-out trees, shells, and vessels. It was difficult to maintain the quality of beer in these types of containers until pottery came around. The use of pottery made it easier to brew and store beer while also keeping the traditions of the drink alive. People could still use straws and drink from the same jar to ensure the beer came from the same source. Pottery enhanced the experience of drinking beer for years to come. -
4300 BCE
Cities Begin to Develop
Due to Mesopotamia's open plain landscape attacks and invasions happened often. In order to counter this villages banded together in order to protect themselves. This process repeated until cities formed. These cities played a key role in making beer even more popular. Since there was an surplus of grain, nobles were able to work on public projects and the main currency they used was grain, the fundamental ingredient in the production of beer. -
2350 BCE
Ancient Egypt Funerary Texts
Beer was just as important in Mesopotamia as it was in Ancient Egypt. Egyptians saw beer as more important than any other foodstuff. In fact, starting in 2350 BC several varieties of beer were being mentioned in funerary texts. This just goes to show that beer had not just touched Mesopotamia but reached out and felt Egyptian culture as well. The effects of beer were felt beyond Egypt as well. -
870 BCE
King Ashurnasirpal II's Feast
To mark the introduction of King Ashurnasirpal II's new capital at Nimrud, he threw a huge feast, sometimes regarded as the largest one ever. It went on for ten days and had over 69,574 people attend, but that wasn't the craziest part at the time. The King's choice of drink was. He provided over ten thousand skins of wine that cost ten times as much as beer. The idea of bringing this much wine was to show how wealthy he was. This set a precedent for wine to be a symbol of wealth and prosperity. -
700 BCE
Hesiod's Works and Days
Heisod learned how to cultivate wine in a more efficient way and wrote about it in his book, Works and Days. He wrote when to prune, harvest and press the grapes in a vineyard. Greek vintners took his advice and doing also aligned the grapes in rows. This had an important impact on the city states by making wine more affordable in places where grapes could already grow easily. As a result, more extravagant wines could be bought for less in a culture where wine is very important. -
600 BCE
The Greek Symposia
The first symposia, or drinking party, started in 600 BC. During these parties drinkers would discuss intellectual topics like literature or science in a room called the andron. They would then mix wine with water to make weaker. Sometimes men would get so drunk they would vomit, but on the most part it did not happen. The Greeks held these parties to show how much more sophisticated their culture was. Also, since Greece's terrain was perfect for vineyards, wine was cheaper for the symposias. -
121 BCE
Opimian Falernian
Falernian wine was the finest of the finest. It was an Italian wine grown in Campania and its name is associated with extravagance and luxury. A specific wine, Opimian Falernian, was grown in Italy. It was made in 121 BC and then drunk by Julius Caesar in the first century BC. Since Falernian wine was so expensive it further enforced how different classes in the social structure got different quality wine. For example, slaves drank weak and bad tasting wine while emperors drank Falernian. -
170
Rome's Greatest Wine Tasting
Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor, was looking for the best wine in the world and sent Galen to find it. Galen was a doctor that believed that the four humors had to be in balance. Once he found the best wine in Rome he brought it back to Aurelius. He was supposed to drink it constantly and put it on any wounds. As a result, this led to many Romans believing that wine was a type of medicine. This boosted wine consumption and the belief in the four humors. -
Jan 1, 780
The Classic of Tea
Tea was first most popular in China. The Chinese loved it so much that during the Tang dynasty there was a tax on it. One of the people loved it was Lu Yu. In 780, he wrote a book on it called The Classic of Tea. It describes the cultivation, preparation, and how you should serve tea. The book spread love for tea and allowed to prosper for years to come. This caused banquets to be centered around tea and the creation of the tea ceremony commenced because of Lu Yu. -
Dec 31, 1386
Charles II's Death
After too much indulgence one night, or debauchery, Charles II went down with a fever and paralysis. When his doctors were brought up to him they gave him a type of spirit distilled from wine in order to heal him. Although Charles II later died from someone setting his sheets on fire, the process that created the medicine would still thrive. Since the doctors thought it was magical, it contributed to the success of distillation, or spirits, and led to more use of it. -
Jun 1, 1511
Coffee on Trial
In the Arab world, coffee was on the brink of being banned because religious leaders saw the drink as an intoxicating beverage which the prophet Muhammad banned. Though the ban of it did not come through, people who drank it were not looked highly upon because coffee was associated with morally dubious behaviors. Other than that, coffee did not play a major role in the Arab world until it came time for them to start exporting it to Europe. -
Jan 1, 1557
First European Trading Post in China
In the sixteenth century the first European explorers were able to reach China by sea. Though Portugal made it there they were bot allowed to trade there at first. China had become ethnocentric and saw themselves as the best country in the universe. In order to trade, Portugal had to tribute to the emperor. They then set up a post on the Macao peninsula.This allowed tea to finally be exported to Europe. This became a major influence in the continent, especially in the British Empire. -
Richard Ligon's Sugar Plantations
When Richard Ligon reached the end of his voyage at Barbados he was surprised to see that the island was in an outbreak of the plague. Instead of staying there for a sort amount of time he stayed there for three years and in doing so he made sugar the most important crop on Barbados. The planters then discovered how to ferment molasses, a by-product of sugar, and to distill it to create brandy. This expanded the reach of spirits across the whole world. It also gave slaves an inexpensive drink. -
The First Coffeehouse in London
In 1652, Pasqua Rosee opened the first coffeehouse as a servant for Daniel Edwards. Daniel had introduced his friends to coffee and they loved it so much that Rosee got his own coffeehouse. Rosee eventually was doing so great in his profits that local taverns protested that he compete with them since he was not a freeman. This new style of dining set a precedent for years to come. Coffee would eventually become more popular and secular topics would be brought up for discussion a lot more. -
Creation of the Royal Society
Christopher acquired a fond taste for coffee and loved coffeehouses. Since he was a scientist he helped in founding the Royal Society, a scientific institution. Meeting within it would usually be held in coffeehouses with other members Hooke, Pepys, and Halley. This type of reason set a precedent for coffeehouses in the future by having more worldly discussions. As a result, more old ideas were challenged and a ton more discoveries were made in these coffeehouses. -
Marriage of Charles II to Catherine of Braganza
When Catherine of Braganza married Charles II in 1662 she received a massive dowry. It contained two Portuguese trading posts, the right to trade with them overseas, and a chest of tea. Her devotion to tea drinking then caught on within the royal court. This allowed the impact of tea to reach England for the first time. Because of this the British East India Company then was granted a monopoly on overseas trade which brought more tea to the country. -
Period: to
Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu's Voyage
Gabriel, a French naval officer, wanted to introduce coffee to the French West Indies himself. Although he was denied by Louis XIV he came upon an aristocratic young lady who allowed him to get a cutting from the royal doctor. He then went on a voyage with it back to the West Indies. Though there were troubles, the plant made it to its destination. After that production took off and he started exporting to France. Coffee's popularity took off after that and it took a more global scale. -
Twining's Tea Shop
Thomas Twining opened the first tea shop catered to women in 1717. Before this women could not buy tea at coffeehouses but because of Twining they were now able to. Women could buy tea at his shop for drinking it right there or they could take dried leaves home. This made to more sociable and adopted a whole new crowd of people. More these types of shops followed and it was the final step in making tea thrive in England. -
Marie Arouet de Voltaire's Witt
In the 1700's, enlightenment thought had taken over France and one of the philosophers who took part in it was Voltaire. Although he preached scientific rationalism, it did not always help him. One day he had offended a noble with his witticism was sent to jail. He then was transported to England where he worked with Isaac Newton and John Locke in coffeehouses. This helped associate coffee with learning and enlightenment causing its prowess to expand. The drink than had more widespread use. -
The Molasses Act
In the second half of the seventeenth century rum had become the preferred drink of most american people. It was cheap to make since they used molasses from France. England then, because of this, passed the Molasses Act which put a tax of sixpence per gallon in order to try and force colonists to get molasses from them. It didn't work. Instead, colonists smuggled molasses from France. This sparked the distrust between the colonists and England and was a factor in starting the Revolutionary War. -
Impregnating Water with Fixed Air
Joseph Priestley was the first person to discover how to make soda water. He had been enamored by the gas came about the vats at his neighbors brewery. His experimented with gas (carbon dioxide) and eventually captured it in water. Joseph then published his findings in his book called Impregnating Water with Fixed Air. This set up the basis for Coca-Cola in America by creating the main component in it. Priestley received the Copley medal from the Royal Society for his discovery. -
The Tea Act
Americans had been smuggling tea from the Dutch. They did this to not have to pay a tax on tea imported from England. Then the Tea Act was signed in 1773, the British could now import tea from China straight to America giving them a monopoly. Colonists did not react well to this because they wanted to avoid interaction with London. The Boston tea party then occurred where tea was thrown off British ships. The Act failed and basically motivated the colonists to gain independence from England. -
William Miller's Rebellion
When Alexander Hamilton attempted to pay off the U.S. debt, he did it at the expense of distillers. There was an outcry when people learned they had to pay a tax for each gallon of liquor produced, especially when William Miller did. He was subject to a writ when one of his associates shot at a marshal. A rebellion then occurred with people wanting to secede from the U.S. but George Washington suppressed it. This made the government realize how important alcohol was to citizens which was a win. -
George Washington's Distillery
A few years from his death, George Washington opened a distillery where he made a profit of $7,500. He was very successful in the business and he even gave gallons of whiskey to his family and friends. Because of this, Americans identified whiskey and other spirits to be linked independence and self-sufficiency. No other type of alcohol did as well as whiskey or rum because they did not symbolize the American spirit. -
French Wine Coca
John Pemberton was a maker of patent medicines which mostly had no health benefits. He had been having little success with his elixirs until found out about the coca leaf. He then infused the coca into wine and called it French Wine Coca in 1885. This provided another base for Coca-Cola by introducing the Coca leaf. French Wine Coca also kick-started Pemberton's career and it got him to be able to grow his business. -
Coca-Cola's Creation
Starting on July 1, 1886, a prohibition period of two years was going to begin in Atlanta. Pemberton's remedy to this was to add the kola bean to his medicine, now called soda-water flavoring. Then in May 1886, him and Frank Robinson called it Coca-Cola. People flocked to buy it at corner stores at the end of the nineteenth century. This began a business that took off from being a fake medicine to a globalized soda drink. -
Eisenhower's Request for Coca-Cola
During World War II the military was enthusiastic about Coca-Cola. So much so that General Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered three million bottles for the Allied campaign in North Africa in 1943. Coca-Cola provided a sense of home during war for the soldiers. It gave themselves another thing to fight for which may given even more spirit. During the war Coca-Cola basically embodied the idea of America. -
American Values Challenged in Israel
In 1966, Israel accused Coca-Cola for not doing business with them in order to keep their market in the Middle East. This sparked controversy of Coca-Cola being involved with antisemitism. The company was then eventually forced out of the Arab market. As a result, Coca-Cola was in sync with American foreign policy. Although this may have stirred some people to dislike the company, it still embodied the American spirit. Coca-Cola could not escape form that.
