Reddit reviews A History Of The World In Six Glasses

Tempurature preferences in drinks tend to be based on culture. In the United States, we prefer to drink our beverages cold. This has to do with lot of different things; For example, we have access to municipal water supplies that are almost always perfectly good sources of clean water, access to electricity and refrigeration (things that are still luxuries in many parts of the world), and the fact that cold Coke and beer just plain taste better to us.

Many other parts of the world prefer their drinks hot. This stems from the origninal need to boil water to prevent disease, and has been ingrained in multitudes of cultures through traditional drinks like tea and coffee. Many cultures that prefer hot beverages hold the belief that cold drinks are not good for you.

Something that we all have in common is that we don't tend to like tepid drinks that have been left out. The exceptions to this rule are most alcoholic beverages which, notably, do not need to be heated to kill bacteria, or chilled to prevent spoiling, since the alcohol takes care of preservation.

If you're very interested in seeing the ways different cultures have been influenced by drinks, or how drinks have been influenced by cultures, you might enjoy A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage. It's a very good read.

Three that come quickly to mind:

A History of the World in Six Glasses

Salt: A World History


The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America

Yes, this was commonplace for 10,000+ years before coffee in the 17 century. Beer/wine was safer to drink than water due to its fermentation. It's laid out pretty nicely in A History of the World in Six Glasses which I am currently reading. I highly recommend it, it is a very easy read.

A book called "A History of the World in Six Glasses" explores the roles that beer, wine, distilled spirits, tea, coffee, and water played throughout history.

In the chapter on coffee, the author describes a period when Muslims were debating whether or not coffee should be outlawed due to the mind-altering effect of caffeine (as with alcohol). They literally had a trial in which they placed a vessel of coffee on the "stand" to be judged. Eventually, it was decided that coffee was innocent as its effect on the body could be comparable to that of spicy food.

Side note: From an interview on NPR with another author, apparently it has been common throughout history for animals and inanimate objects to be tried for crimes. For instance, a man was being tried for bestiality with a pig. They judged whether or not the pig should be punished for immorality but ultimately decided that it was innocent and let it go.

The author's book is "The Trial: A History, from Socrates to O.J. Simpson". I haven't read it, but it sounded interesting from the interview.

I recommend A History of the World in Six Glasses. It's generally interesting and entertaining, and also talks about the history of both beer and bread (which are quite similar).

Reminds me of this book.

Check out A History of the World in Six Glasses for a great overview of coffee & its influence on European society. I believe (though am not 100% sure) that this ad is referenced in the book.

A History of the World in 6 Glasses is a great read on how beer, wine, spirits, tea, coffee and Coca-Cola change the world...

per this:
http://www.amazon.com/History-World-Six-Glasses/dp/0802714471

and my poor recollection, Coffee was made via boiling (cowboy coffee-ish) then cooled, put into casks for taxing, then decanted and reheated to serve.....yuck.

Actually, I'm reading A History Of The World In Six Glasses . Is "Drink" any good? Should I add it to the queque?

If anyone did, it was Tom Standage. http://www.amazon.com/History-World-Six-Glasses/dp/0802714471

An easy read with a unique approach is A History of the World in Six Glasses. http://www.amazon.com/History-The-World-Six-Glasses/dp/0802714471

A more established approached is A History of Civilizations. Naturally, the scope of the subject will cause these books to be general histories using a broad brush.
http://www.amazon.com/History-Civilizations-Fernand-Braudel/dp/0140124896/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346819170&sr=1-1&keywords=civilization+history

Relevant interesting book



TL;DR

I was a history major in college, but I'm not going to recommend you anything too heavy or even all that long. This a great little book that makes for a fun and interesting read: A History of the World in Six Glasses.

The history of beer and most alcohol is quite amazing and mostly accidental. If anyone is interested there is a great book http://www.amazon.com/History-The-World-Six-Glasses/dp/0802714471 that is really fun to read. And that is coming from someone who doesnt read much

So this book (Amazon-link) then.