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10,000 BCE
Beer: The Transition to a Settled Lifestyle
Nomads abandoned their hunter-gatherer lifestyle for a more settled one. Within the Fertile Crescent, major water sources and the abundance of wild cereal grains that grew along them became the foundation for many civilizations. In Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt the grains provided a consistent, easy, year-round food source and eventually lead to the discovery of the important drink, beer. This transition was the beginning of modern history and the basis for today's world. -
10,000 BCE
Beer: The Long-Term Storage of Food and Drinks
Shortly after the settling of Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, it was discovered that the grains used for food could easily be stored for long periods of time. This discovery lead to the invention of new technology used to collect, process and store the grain. Beer, which was produced from the grain, was also easy to store as it did not need to be kept in pottery. Because of this, beer was produced in large quantities and became the main drink in these civilizations. -
9000 BCE
Beer: The Adoption of Agriculture
The usage of farming is one of the major turning points in modern history. It was first seen in the Fertile Crescent when people began to grow wheat and barley deliberately. They grew the grain to meet the needs for food and beer production. Farming set the path for civilization growth by growing enough food where some people within the civilization could be freed to study and perfect other crafts. This would lead to new inventions and progress towards the modern world. -
3000 BCE
Beer: Sharing a Drink
Beer was an important social drink. The Sumerians of Mesopotamia depicted beer as being drunk through straws placed within the same container, as individual cups were not yet invented. Although, at this point in time,beer could be filtered and straws were not necessary but rather used as a sort of ritual. This action was seen as a universal sign of friendship and hospitality. Similar gestures are still used in present society. -
3000 BCE
Beer: Raising Your Glass
Beers ability to intoxicate the drinker was seen as magical and supernatural. Therefore, beer was believed to be a gift from the gods and was used in various religious ceremonies across the world. Beer was used in funerals and ceremonies by the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Chinese while the Incas and Aztecs of South America offered beer to theirs gods. These beliefs set the basis for the modern practice of raising a glass for wishing good health, marriage, and safe passage to the afterlife. -
870 BCE
Wine: The Great Feast
King Ashurnasirpal II held a great feast to mark the inauguration of his new capital Nimrud and to show off his city's power and wealth. 70,000 people attended the feast and many crates of food and containers off beer and wine were provided. Compared to beer, wine was seen as a great luxury as it costed much more to have it transported down from the mountains. Therefore it was a sign of great wealth. Similarly today, we view wine as a luxury that is drunk on special or formal occasions. -
500 BCE
Wine: Spreading Greek Culture
Greek culture was being spread on a large scale through the trade of wine. Wine jars called amphorae were being loaded onto ships by the thousands to be traded to places such as France, Italy, Egypt, Danube, and the Crimean Peninsula. Greek knowledge about the cultivation of wine was also being shared alongside the wine. This knowledge was introduced to Italy, France, and eventually to Spain and Portugal. The trade of wine to surrounding lands played a key role in the spread of greek culture. -
400 BCE
Wine: The Spark of Competition
Wine became the main drink at formal parties or intellectual events called symposia. These events created competition between scholars with the goal to outdo each other in wit, poetry, or rhetoric. They lead to the development of new ideas and technological advancements. Many of these ideas would go on to be improved throughout the years. Eventually, some would be developed into the technology we use today. The ideas that came from the simposia were the foundation for the modern world. -
300 BCE
Wine: Plato's Symposium
Symosions were sophisticated, all-male aristocratic rituals in which they consumed wine mixed with water and pursued pleasure. This pleasure could be intellectual, social, or sexual. The rules set for symposions to prevent violence were the basis for Greek philosopher's view of Greek society. Symposions were also seen as the ideal venue for exposing the truth since many of the attendee's tounges became loose. This view was emphasized throughout great literature pieces such as Plato's Symposium. -
146 BCE
Wine: The Rise of Rome
After the fall of Carthage and Corinth, Rome became the leading power and the Italian Peninsula became the leading wine producer of the Mediterranean Sea. The Romans embraced many aspects of Greek Culture, one of which being their wine-making techniques. Vines were transplanted to the Italian Peninsula where commercial production of wine began and Italy became the new center of trade. Italian wine would go on to be traded down the Nile River, carrying its culture to faraway places like India. -
618
Tea: China's Golden Age
China experienced an incredible surge in population during its golden age. The adoption of tea as a dominant drink played a key role in this. Tea was much safer to drink than other beverages. It had antiseptic properties capable of fighting off cholera, typhoid, and dysentery. It could also be prepared quickly and did not spoil like beer. Tea was an effective way of purifying water and reducing waterborne diseases, which reduced infant mortality and increased longevity. -
1000
Spirits: The Center of Learning
Cordoba the capital of the vast Arab Andalusia, which stretched from France to the middle of Asia and down to India, became the center for learning in Western Europe. This was because the city was technologically and intellectually advanced. This lead to the inventions of astrolabes, the modern numerical system, along with many more ideas and techniques. One of their greatest achievements was the refining of the technique known as distillation, which lead to new types of drinks: Spirits. -
1300
Spirits: Aqua Vitae
Distilled wine, known as aqua vitae, was used as a popular medicine for preserving youth, improving memory, treating brain, nerve, and joint diseases, calming a toothache, protecting against the plague, and curing blindness, speech defects, and paralysis. It was used on Arnold of Villanova and Raymond Lully, both of which lived till the age of 70, an unusual ago for the time. Aqua Vitae contributed to the rise in popularity of medical schools and advancements in medicine. -
1500
Spirits: Distilled Currency
With the discovery of the Atlantic islands, the perfect place to grow sugar, an issue emerged: lack of manpower. The European's solution to this was to buy or kidnap slaves captured by the Portuguese from Africa and then ship then to the sugar mills. Distilled drinks became the ideal currency for paying slavers and shipmen because you could transport more alcohol per container and it was less likely to spoil. Distilled drinks sparked the boom of slavery and the conflict surrounding it. -
Spirits: Scurvy
Scurvy, a disease caused by a lack of vitamin c, was a major issue at sea. A new cocktail called grog, a mixture of rum, water, sugar, and lime juice, greatly decreased the number of sailors dying from scurvy. The lime juice provided the sailors with the missing vitamin c, reducing their risk of getting scurvy and improving their health Though, only the British navy was drinking grog so they became much stronger, contributing to their defeat of the French and Spanish Fleets at Trafalgar in 1805. -
Coffee: The Death of Oliver Cromwell
Puritanical Oliver Cromwell came to power after the fall of King Charles I at the end of the English civil war. It was during puritan times that coffeehouses began to become more and more popular as more respectable alternatives to taverns. After Cromwell's death people began to favor monarchy again. Coffeehouses were the center of debate and the gathering place for monarchy supporters. This ultimately lead to the accession of Charles the II and the lasting monarchy in Britain. -
Tea: Catherine of Braganza
When Catherine of Braganza, daughter of King John IV of Portugal, got married to King Charles II, she brought a massive dowry along with her. This included Portuguese trading posts and the right to trade with Portuguese possessions overseas. This allowed for easier access to the East Indies for trading. Catherine also was an avid tea drinker and introduced the drinking of tea to the English Court. Because of this, tea became much more popular in England as it was now seen as fashionable. -
Tea: The British East India Company
The British East India Company became an import monopoly between England and the East Indies. They also became a powerful government asset as they were allowed to acquire territory, maintain an army, and declare war or peace (among many other things). Tea became a custom drink to be served at meetings for the company directors as the emphasis placed of the trading of tea was growing stronger. This emphasis contributed to the rising popularity and availability of tea within England. -
Coffee: Coffeehouses
Coffee became the chosen drink of information workers because it promoed sharpness and clarity of thought. It was often drunk in Coffeehouses which were calm, respectable, and sober establishments centered on discussion, debate, and self-improvement. They also became centers for spreading gossip, rumors, and news along with the auctioning of goods. Coffeehouses provided a new environment and became the melting pot for the financial and scientific revolutions which shaped the modern world. -
Coffee: The Travels of Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu
Arabia was the largest supplier of coffee to the world and tried everything to maintain that. Eventually, coffee beans made their way to the Dutch who gave a coffee tree as a gift to Louis XIV in Paris. De Clieu obtained a piece of this tree while in Paris and set out on a trip to bring it back to the West Indies. After a difficult trip, the tree made it to the West Indies where it was cultivated and spread to other countries. Coffee was spread around the world spreading culture along the way. -
Spirits: The Molasses Act
Since New England distillers began buying more molasses to produce rum from France than from Britain, the government passed the Molasses Act, imposing a tax on any foreign bought molasses. This angered the colonies as they preferred the french molasses and as a result began smuggling the molasses from the french colonies into New England. Smuggling became socially acceptable and pushed the colonies to begin defying other laws, therefore setting the foundation for American Independence. -
Coffee: The Stock Exchange
After the passing of an act to limit the number of brokers in the exchange stockbrokers abandoned the exchange and moved to coffeehouses to sell stocks and shares. Most brokers gathered at Jonathan's but were banished if they defaulted on a payment. This struck controversy as many argued hat coffeehouses were public places and that anyone should be able to enter. As a result, brokers moved to a new building and named it The Stock Exchange, the forerunner for the London Stock Exchange. -
Tea: Industrialization
The introduction of Richard Arkwright's machine-based factories greatly increased the productivity of factories in Britain. Many of the workers in these factories faced long, tiresome shifts. Because of this, they turned to tea as a solution. Tea improved the worker's concentration and alertness, therefore increasing their efficiency. Workers were given free tea breaks throughout the day to boost their performance. Tea contributed to the efficiency of new factories in the industrial revolution. -
Tea: The Boston Tea Party
The Tea Act of 1773 allowed the government to continue taxing the colonies and granted the East India Company a monopoly of tea in the colonies. This enraged the colonists as they did not want to pay more for the tea in which they loved so much. They also felt as if this was a violation of their rights as they had no say in the granting of the monopoly. As a result, merchants dressed as natives and dumped the tea from the first shipments into the Boston Harbor, prompting the Revolutionary War. -
Coffee: The French Revolution
People were enraged when King Louis XVI fired his financial advisor, Jacques Necker, and call for the army when France was in a period of financial crisis. Necker was the only government official trusted by the people and with him gone they felt betrayed. Crowds gathered in the gardens of the Palis Royal where people feared the army would come to kill them all. Camille Desmoulins jumped onto a table at the Cafe de Foy and called the citizens to arms, sparking the French Revolution -
Cola: The United States v. Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola
Harvey Washington Wiley challenged the moral aspects of Coca-Cola as he believed it was poisonous to children. He claimed the caffeine in it promoted sexual transgressions and was enough to kill children. The Court decided that Coca-Cola did not need to be banned but was to cut the amount of caffeine in half and stop using children in its ads. Coca-Cola had successfully created a caffeine drink that was legally sanctioned to be sold to children, something no company had ever accomplished. -
Cola: The World Wars
Coca-Cola was the primary drink of servicemen in the world wars and traveled everywhere with them. The Cola reminded them of what it was like back home and what was waiting for them there. To keep up with the growing demand from soldiers and civilians overseas, bottling plants were established on bases and a portable dispenser was created for men to tak with them in the jungle. All of this helped to spread Coca-Cola, and the American ideas and culture associated with it, to surrounding nations. -
Cola: The Great Depression
Coca-Cola depicted a happy, cheerful, family-friendly, carefree world filled with glamour. This was seen through its placement in movies and heard through advertisements on the radio. Coca-Cola flourished during The Great Depression because it helped many of the people suffering during this time to escape from the gloomy and a dark reality that they were facing. It installed a sense of hope that they would make it through these hard times and have a better future. -
Cola: The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was created to help reconstruct Europe and get rid of its communist ways. Many people, especially those in France, did not want to get rid of communism and opposed the Marshall Plan. Coca-Cola became a target for campaigns and legal attacks as it was seen as a representation of America and democracy. As a result of this opposition, cola trucks were overturned and bottles were broke. Though, French campaigns made little difference to the plan which was successfully carried out. -
Cola: Globalization
Coca-Cola is the product that best represents the controversial subject of globalization. The company currently operates on every continent except Antartica and in over 200 territories. The drink has become the most widely known product and second most commonly understood phrase. along with being a well-known product, the drink also accounts for 3% of humanity's liquid consumption. Coca-Cola's spread across the globe represents the current trend towards a single global marketplace in the future.
