Coffee for Clear Thinking

Drinking coffee is so important in our society that a change in Starbucks instructions to their staff (the Baristas) was reported in the October 13, 2010  Wall Street Journal.  "At Starbucks, Baristas Told No More Than Two Drinks" (www.wsj.com).   Starbucks, a very global company has expanded to  49 countries delivering a taste of US coffee around the world.  But Starbucks didn’t make coffee important to the world.  Hundreds of years before Starbucks was launched, coffee made its appearance in peoples' daily lives.

According to the book The History of the World in Six Glasses, (T. Standage) (www.tomstandage.wordpress.com) coffee’s popularity in Europe began in the 1600’s.   This new drink, coffee, was considered modern, novel, but more importantly it was thought to create “sharpness and clarity of thought”.   This was a significant benefit as wine and beer were common drinks, even at breakfast, often leaving people a little fuzzy even as they started the day.  Coffee then, as now, energized the beginning of the day.  Drinking it became a shared activity and lead to the creation arrival of coffee houses where people shared coffee, conversation and the news of the day.

To discover more about coffee and history, for  fresh look at our world pick up this book.  You'll be able to discover how beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and that special global drink:  Coca-Cola became part of our lives.