History, in 6 glasses.

February 4, 2009 | 3 comments

I have always been both fascinated by and obsessed with drinks.  Not alcoholic ones, mind you.  Beverages.  When I was a kid, I was always always thirsty.  I needed juice or soda or milk constantly.  I realize now that it was because I could literally not stand to drink water until I was 20 years old and was probably mildly dehydrated all the time.  I think I’ve mentioned that I’m 29 and have been drinking coffee consistently for about 21 years, daily for 20.  I’m American, so you know I’ve had my share of Coke.  Etc.

So I began reading A History of the World in Six Glasses last night, and I am enjoying it immensely.  I was tempted to consume the beverage in question while reading the six parts.  Still am.  But I read for my lunchtime whenever I can, and I can’t very well get tanked at work.  (That only happens when I need to talk to someone and have to track them down at a community happy hour and — poor me — have to drink beer in the afternoon……..trying to think of who I can track down this week……..)  Perhaps after the third part, when the drinks under examination are coffee, tea and Coke, I can indulge.

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  1. Daniel on February 5, 2009 at 9:48 am

    Very interesting. I used to manage a coffee-shop, and also ran a coffee cart business. So, I am really interested in learning about the role coffee-shops and tea-shops have played in the way the world is what it is today.
    These were places where the intellectuals, the dreamers, the writers and poets and artists used to hang out at, exchange ideas and so on.
    Do you have a favorite coffee-shop where you hang out at?

  2. Johnny on February 5, 2009 at 10:32 am

    You should definitely check it out. The author talks a lot about coffeeshops and their role in intellectual and political life:)

    My favorite coffeeshop was a place near Harvard/Brattle Squares in Cambridge, Massachusetts called Caffe’ Paradiso (with two Fs). Unfortunately, last time I was there, it was gone. I was very sad. I used to spend a lot of time at a shop near my apartment when I was doing dissertation work. But I don’t get a lot of time to hang out in cafes anymore, and I really miss it.

  3. Daniel on February 7, 2009 at 1:00 am

    Can you take your work on a laptop,and sit at a cafe and do some work while also enjoying the cafe experience?
    At the local cafes I frequent, I see a lot of people getting the work done as they drink a cup of coffee or tea,and then head back t o their nearby offices.