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."
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