Tea, Coffee & Chocolate: How We Fell in Love with Caffeine

by Melanie King

Did you know that coffee was recommended as protection against the bubonic plague in the seventeenth century? Or that tea was believed to make men ‘unfit to do their business’ and blamed for women becoming unattractive? On the other hand, a cup of chocolate was supposed to have exactly the opposite effect on the drinker’s sex life and physical appearance.



These three beverages arrived in England in the 1650s from faraway, exotic places: tea from China, coffee from the Middle East and chocolate from Mesoamerica. Physicians, diarists and politicians were quick to comment on their supposed benefits and alleged harmfulness, using newspapers, pamphlets and handbills both to promote and denounce their sudden popularity. Others seized the opportunity to serve the growing appetite for these newly discovered drinks by setting up coffee houses or encouraging one-upmanship in increasingly elaborate tea-drinking rituals.



How did the rowdy and often comical initial reception of these drinks form the roots of today’s enduring caffeine culture? From the tale of the goatherd whose animals became frisky on coffee berries to a duchess with a goblet of poisoned chocolate, this book, illustrated with eighteenth-century satirical cartoons and early advertisements, tells the extraordinary story of our favourite hot drinks.

• ISBN10: 1851244069
• ISBN13: 9781851244065
• Publish Date: 2 October 2015
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Bodleian Library
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 176
• Language: English

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

I really liked this little book; I thought it was very well done and very readable.   BUT... I don't know if I'd necessarily recommend it to everyone; I would, but with a caveat.   

The book itself is split into three sections, one each for tea, coffee and chocolate.  Each section outlines England's 'discovery' of each drink; it's very specific to England, although the author does lightly touch upon Spain's use of chocolate in the preceding decades before England embraced it.  In addition to the historical commentary (and reproductions of historical tracts and illustrations), King briefly mentions current research into each drink and its health benefits.  King focusses only on the drinks themselves and avoids entirely anything tangential to their history.   

So here's my caveat:  the writing leans towards the dry and academic.  It's still a very readable book, but it's not chatty or witty or entertaining.  It is well-researched and I never found it boring; I looked forward to opening it each night - even for the section on coffee, and I can't stand the taste of coffee.  I found the whole of it interesting and informative, but if you're looking for a dash of entertainment with your history, you might be disappointed by this one.   

The one thing that did disappoint me was a few glaring copy-editing errors.  The book is published under the name of the Bodleian Library, so I sort of expected, if not perfection, at least not obvious extra or missing words.  It's also possible that I have Oxford on a rather high pedestal and should get over myself.   What did I learn from this book?  I need to drink more chocolate.