A History of the World in 6 Glasses P. 223-265

Summary:

From Soda to Cola:

The upcoming of America, and the controversy of war, politics, trading, and communications during the twentieth century happened because of the rise of Coca-Cola. Back then, it was known as the outline of America and its values. Coca-Cola too had people who approved of it, as well as disapproved. For example, some see it as the ability to state their choice and start a democracy while others may see it as a ruthless global capitalism. Coca-Cola and other artificially carbonated soft drinks was produced by Joseph Priestley around 1767 because he was amazed by some sort of gas that would bubbled from the fermentation vats next door to him. He decided to take his fascination of the odd, bubbled gas into his laboratory and experiment of the properties of the unknown gas. Through a couple of his experiment, he produced sparkling water! After he wrapped up his experiment with the sparkling water, he wrote his own book to acknowledge others about it. Not to long after, Thomas Henry started producing his own sparkling water and sold it to people because back then, it could've been used for medicine. He also mentioned that people could mix sparkling water with lemonade, thus starting the development of sweet, artificially fizzy drink. After Henry told people about it, in the 1790s, scientists and entrepreneurs started making artificial mineral waters for sale. Now, Coca-Cola, itself was invented by John Pemberton in May 1886. The invention of Coca-Cola was an accident because he was attempting to make a cure for headaches but the ingredients that he had mixed turned into a sweet, fizzy, drink called Coca-Cola. Pemberton was also known for producing copious patent medicines which had false claims about their effectiveness. He had a few successes with his business, but by 1872, he was declared bankrupt! That didn't stopped him from his hope of becoming rich again, so he started to incorporate coca into medicines for a stimulating effect. Pemberton then decided to mix coca and kola together into a beverage and called it Coca-Cola. They used an abundance of different ways of advertising for it to become popular and well known. But when Coca-Cola was bottled, that was when the expansion of Coca-Cola grew. Because it was bottled, it could be sold in more cities, markets, and even over the world!

Globalization in a Bottle:

Coca-Cola played a huge part in the rise of America. Numerous of situations that was going on during the late ninetieth and twentieth century, it was associated with Coca-Cola. When World War II started, troops from the U.S. was being send over to Japan one after another, including Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola was seen as a support for the soldiers and it was also supposed to remind the soldiers of their home and to keep their preserving. As a matter of fact, the soldiers really valued Coca-Cola, especially if it's bottled. Coca-Cola also created a few controversy between America and the Middle East because the U.S. wanted to put a settlement there but the Islamic government denied their idea. In fact, they even started to imitate Coca-Cola with an "Islamic" cola made in Iran instead of the U.S. Overall, though Coca-Cola, today is just soda, it will always carry some sort of history in it, whether it's: the rise of America, the big commotion of capitalism over communism, and the advance of globalization! 

Quote:

"Its drink is now the world's most widely known product, and "Coca-Cola" is said to be the second most commonly understood phrase in the world, after "OK."" (Standage 264).

Reaction:

When I first read this line, I laughed to myself and read it again. At first, I was a tad reluctant to actually believe that "Coca-Cola" was the second most commonly understood phrase in the world because it seems like it was too good to be true sort of thing. So, I did a quick little survey asking whether they know what Coca-Cola was, and almost everyone that I asked knew exactly what I was talking about. It didn't matter about age, race, nor sex! I believe why many people are familiar with Coca-Cola is because it's been in the U.S. for quite some time AND it also affected the U.S. and our history a whole lot. Before I even read this chapter, I never see soda as an importance in our history. I just thought it was a beverage that wasn't good for you, haha. But after reading this entire book, I see the beverages that we drink today in a different perspective. It makes me think about it's importance in our history and our lives. :)

A History of the World in 6 Glasses P.175-220

Summary:

Empires of Tea:

Not to long after the development of coffee, tea appeared and played quite a large part to the imperial and industrial expansions in Europe. Tea was actually the foundation of the European trade with the East. Since it was becoming quite popular due to how much profit people are making, tea became the beverage of the working man, especially those who works in factories because tea was considered their fuel to keep them working. The spread of tea was tremendous! It spread throughout the world and was the most consumed beverages after water, of course. According to Chinese traditions, tea was an important factor in their history and lives. Tea was actually used as medicine and food way before it was turned into a beverage. The expansion of tea and how tea became the national beverage of China during 618-907 CE was huge! Depending of how you prefer to look at it, it made China the largest, wealthiest, and more known empire in the world. It also increased their population by a triple amount from what they had before! A few reasons why tea was so popular and well-loved was because it was quick and easy to make, it didn't spoiled like beer, and it's good for our health due to the natural ingredients. Tea was a great impact in China, especially economically because at some point tea was considered a currency as well. Since tea made China seemed very superior and "top-knotch", other countries wanted tea as well. So China started importing tea to all over the world which allowed different people from different countries to try out tea.

Tea Power:

During the Industrial Revolution, the workers in factories loved drinking tea to keep them energized for work rather than coffee. Drinking tea was quite an advantage for the workers because due to their occupations, they don't have much break time so they all have to be healthy and ready to work. Not only does tea helps you feel more calm and energized, it also help prevents diseases. But soon the policies from tea impacted the establishment of American independence. In order to get cheaper tea, tea had to be smuggled into Britain illegally. Because of smuggled tea, it decrease sales of legalized tea which then led to debts and that soon resulted in the Tea Act of 1773. But alas, American colonists refused to pay taxes so they began to boycott against British goods. Not too long after their boycotts, the Boston Tea Party happened. The British Parliament then declared a series of acts or the Coercive Act to show that they have more power than the colonists. Colonists was outraged and had rancor against the British, which eventually started the Revolutionary War in 1775. Tea also made an impact on the Opium War of 1839-42. Because the Chinese wanted to isolate themselves from other places, they had to pay for tea, mainly with silver. That was when the creation and importation of opium began. China then produced as much opium as they could to exchange for silver, so that it would pay for their tea supplies. Eventually emperor Lin Tze-su wanted to stop opium trading but they didn't followed his command so he started arresting those who were caught trading opium. At last, the emperor expelled the British from Canto (where the opium trading was located) and that really angered the British thus a war was declared between Britain and China. China lost because their weapons were no match for the Britain's. So the downfall of China and also the independence of America all began with tea!

Quote:

"In prehistoric times, people noticed the invigorating effect of chewing its leaves, and the healing effect of rubbing them on wounds, practices that survived for thousands of years." (Standage 178).

Reaction:

I really liked this quote because it made me stop reading and relate to my life. I've seen my family offer natural leaves that's supposed to make you feel more energized and sometimes leaves were used to prevent people from sickness. I had my own personal experience with having a leave rubbed onto a cut. I can recall it as if it was yesterday because it was just different to what I'm used to. I was running around with my cousins then I tripped and I got a cut on my knee. It didn't bled much but there was definitely some pain feeling. My cousin then ran to a tree, ripped off a leaf, and wrapped it around my cut. I don't know how but the pain gradually decreased. I was literally stunned because in America, whenever I get a cut, I always use a band-aid to cover my wounds. The whole leaf concept was totally new to me :P As the quote stated, people have used leaves for these main reasons during the prehistoric times, and I'd like to say that there are people who still uses leaves for medical reasons, including my family and myself.

A History of the World in 6 Glasses P.133-197

Summary:

The Great Soberer:

The beginning of a new drink called coffee actually played a huge part in the diffusion of this whole new rationalism that was going on in Europe. Since coffee was being promoted as a drink that has sharpness and clarity of thought, many intellectuals workers would preferred coffee. The spread of coffee is fairly noticeable in Europe because before coffee was introduced, many people drank small portion of beer and or wine in the morning! Coffee was far off a better choice of beverage compared to beer/wine because it makes you feel energized, relaxed, and you're still sober when you drink coffee, which is good. Coffee even has the ability those whom had consumed some alcohol to become more sober faster. After copious people started to consumed coffee, controversy also began to stir up. Different religious groups sees coffee in different ways. For example, Muslims sees coffee as a punished beverage since they can't drink wine, which is the Christians' holy drink. Some others also weren't fond of coffee because they didn't believed that coffee was better than beer or wine. But none of that stopped the development of coffee and coffee shops all over the places. Arabia was the supplier of coffee to the world! But unfortunately, the Dutch invaded Arab and stole their coffee trees and brought it home to their country and started making coffee. What the Dutch did to Arab made others countries to do the same. In the end, due to the Dutch's first step, coffee plants that was originally from Arab spread all over the world. 

The Coffeehouse Internet:

During the 17th century, coffee buyers had the advantage of hearing the latest news just by buying a cup of coffee. Many coffeehouses in Europe was known for that. There, people could have intellectual discussions with others. That is why copious people uses coffeehouses to state their mind, listen to others, learn new things, and just relax. During the Age of Reason, coffeehouses, mainly in Europe, were known as the "Internet." Since coffee's popularity is increasing, so are coffeehouses and that affected school and universities. People are just going in coffeehouses to learn and talk about educational things instead of going to school. There are just an abundance of things that happens in coffeehouses. They are business men discussing about stock profits, they are designers deciding how to build things, they are even men that planned a mini protest in coffeehouses, the list is just endless. 

Quote:

"Coffee remains the drink over which people meet to discuss, develop, and exchange ideas and information." (Standage 171).

Reaction:

When I was younger, history was probably my least favorite subject because everything happened in the past, so why should we waste our time learning about it. I felt like we should be learning about our present. But as I grow older and read more of this book, history is becoming like an interest to me. This quote from the book shows how coffee was being "used" back in the 17th century and here we are, in the 21th century, still "using" coffee for the same reason. I don't know many people that would invite anyone to have a can of beer to exchange ideas and discuss about important information. But I do know numerous of people, including myself that would invite someone to Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks to have a cup of coffee and just talk. As I continue reading this book about something that  is so valuable to all human beings, it makes me realize how important the history of anything is. Also, it amazes me how our everyday lives incorporates some sort of history and it's really cool :) Now, I realize why so many adults have said "If you don't know about your past, you won't have a future."