I can recommend <em>A History of the World in Six Glasses</em> if you want some light, fun reading on this topic.
I'm a bit late, but as a really really quick look at something similar to that is:
History of the World in 6 Glasses
Probably one of my favorites that is similar to what you asked for. I can direct you to more if you want, but that one is mainly the 6 drinks that changed the world
Ale/Beer, Wine, Spirits, Coffee, Tea, Cocacola
Hijacking top comment to recommend a book (kinda) about this. A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage, puchasable for $0.99, used, on Amazon.
It's well researched and iirc, it covers history (mostly western) from the Mesopotamian civilizations to the present day. The six drinks it does this through are Beer, Wine, Spirits, Coffee, Tea and Coke. I found it somewhat interesting that the first 3 drinks contained alcohol and the last three contained caffeine (not that this necessarily signifies anything), and I think he mentions that in passing somewhere in his book.
>I grilled a guy who believes his own righteousness is self sufficient.
It is sufficient though, if he keeps at it.
>He did a good deed. Remember in the ancient world wine was one of the few safe ways to get hydrated. Wine was a disinfectant. I didn’t understand that fir a long time. Shout out to the book The History of the World in Six Glasses
I have a hard time believing he did it because he wanted to give people disinfectant. And you missed the first part: he went to a wedding party.
> I mean you’ve just grilled the guy who spent most of his money doing good only because he has $50 in his bank account instead of $0.
I grilled a guy who believes his own righteousness is self sufficient.
> And if you want something more concrete: He went to a wedding party and he turned water into wine so the party can keep going.
He did a good deed. Remember in the ancient world wine was one of the few safe ways to get hydrated. Wine was a disinfectant. I didn’t understand that fir a long time. Shout out to the book The History of the World in Six Glasses
I actually came across this same idea in a book called A History of the World in 6 Glasses. Good book. Had to read it for class but ended up enjoying it.
It mentions how beer/mead became a popular drink in early times because of this. It also goes on to explain why other popular drinks (coffee, spirits, Coca-cola, etc) spread so wildly.
Just thought I'd share!
Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but I really enjoyed A History of the World in 6 Glasses. From Amazon - "A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola." It was a pretty fascinating read.
Speculating a bit, but wine in Greece goes pretty far back.
Ofc could be used as a seal for any product really, I'm just having fun speculating.
I recall, in the book: History of the World in 6 Glasses that other ancient cultures in the middle east wrote of the "excellent beer of the Greeks from the mountains from grapes" ( as opposed to Mesopotamian and Egyptian "beer from fermented grains"
For information, A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage. (Bonus note, he also wrote an amazing book called The Victorian Internet comparing the evolution of the Internet with the 19th century telegraph system).
For fun, The Coffee Trader by David Liss. It's definite a novel, but it puts the history of coffee in the Netherlands and UK into a fun perspective.
Absolutely. I learned this but I thought it was Stalin. I read a book called the History of the World in 6 Glasses. I goes over how Wine, Beer, Spirits, Tea, Coffee and Cola have shaped human history and development. Definitely worth reading, unfortunately I lent mine to someone and never got it back.
I feel the best way to go about this is to gain a general sense of the outline of history, which isn't nearly so difficult as it may seem as first once you realize that the "history" that mainly gets talked about is only about 3000 years. Learn some sign posts for that span, and then from there you can fit anything new you learn into the general outline you've gained. A couple good books for gaining those signposts are:
A History of the World in 6 Glasses. A phenomenal starting book. Gives very, very broad strokes on the entirety of human development, from pre-history when we first made beer inside hollowed tree trunks (it predates pottery), all the way to the dawn of the global economy with the perpetual success of Coca-Cola.
Roots of the Western Tradition An incredibly short (265 pages!) overview of Ancient Mesopotamia up to the decline of the Roman Empire written in very accessible language. Phenomenal text.
The Story of Philosophy. A bit more dense than the other's, but a tour de force breakdown of the history of Western thought.
Obviously the above is very Western centric, I wish I could recommend similar books that cover Asian history, but sadly I can't think of any (though hopefully others will point some out in the comments). Still though, once you gain the signposts I talked about, learning Asian history will still be easier as you can slot things into the apporpriate time period. Like "Oh, the first Chinese Empire (Qin Dynasty) rose up in the same era as Rome was rising as a power and fighting it's wars against Carthage". Or, "Oh, the Mongols took power in Asia just about right after the Crusades."
As a little bonus, they may not be accurate but historical movies can still help pin down those first signposts of your history outline. Here's a little list.
A lot of really mixed information here...
Coca-Cola got it's name from the Coca plant. Cocaine is made from this plant, but cocaine was never in the original recipe: Hard liquor was never used as a substitute to unsafe water, and the beer or wine that may have been was no where near the alcohol content in today's versions.
Edit: Additionally, unsafe water in the States likely didn't share a period of history with soda fountains. The water in the soda is safe to drink after all....
I just bought The History of the World in 6 Glasses
You're lucky, I have to write like a page of notes for every chapter in this god forsaken book
https://www.amazon.com/History-World-6-Glasses/dp/0802715524
They talk about this in A History of the World in 6 Glasses: https://smile.amazon.com/History-World-6-Glasses/dp/0802715524.
A pretty good book all in all, even if some of the connections seem tenuous.
http://www.amazon.com/A-History-World-6-Glasses/dp/0802715524
Very good book.
Got it on my shelf, great book. Try A History of the World in 6 Glasses after that.
http://www.amazon.com/A-History-World-6-Glasses/dp/0802715524
You strike me as someone who has read Tom Standage's A History of the World in Six Glasses.
See also A History of the World in Six Glasses.
I learned this from The World in Six Glasses, which is an absolutely fascinating book.
If you're interested in the subject check out this book : A History of the World in 6 Glasses
From a review:
1) Beer -- a basis for why people replaced hunting with farming
2) Wine -- the civilizer of Greece and Rome
3) Hard Spirits -- slavery, the American Revolution
4) Tea -- the life sustainer and improver
5) Coffee -- the fuel for the enlightenment
6) Cola -- particularly Coca-cola the expression of cultural dominance.
If you like this topic, I recommend this book. It's an easy read, but extremely well written and very interesting.