Book Notes: A History Of The World In 6 Glasses

July 16th, 2007

At a recent barbecue, beers in hand, the question arose: how exactly was the frothy drink discovered? It’s a fairly disgusting concept; a vat of grains and yeast soaking in water, rotting. What was the crazy person who took the first swig thinking?

A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage makes history accessible through an entry point familiar to all – beverages. The six drinks are beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca-Cola. From that list alone, you may have a rough idea of what time periods and events this book covers.

Thanks to Standage’s comforting narrative style, once I started reading this book I knew I’d finish it in a day or two. Familiar tales became unique when looked at from a different perspective. We learn about the Boston Tea Party through the eyes of politically powerful British East India Trading Company, and how the French Revolution was initiated by a speech outside the Cafe de Foy – a coffee house.

As for the discovery of beer, the foamy drink dates back to the dawn of agriculture in Mesopotamia. When grains are soaked in water, the sprouting grains produce sugar in the form of maltose. This “malting” process combined with yeast (used for creating bread) produced fermentation and the result was beer, which is essentially “liquid bread.” Early beer was as simple as a huge jug with rotting grains and water, from which people would drink using straws to filter.

Over time, wine developed from fermented grapes. Distillation was discovered during the middle ages which led to spirits – distilled wine is brandy and distilled beer is whiskey. Coffee originated in the middle east and provided a mental stimulant perfectly paired with the age of reason. The quest for tea lead to the expansion of the British Empire to China and India. Coca-Cola is presented as a quintessential American beverage and a metaphor for how American capitalism has spread worldwide through advertising and embodying the American brand of capitalism.

Looking at world history in this way is a humbling exercise, as it suggests that for all the “manifest destiny” and chest thumping, early world exploration could basically be seen as simple greed – a more cynical observation is that alcohol and caffeine are addictive substances.

There’s even a neat appendix where Standage has researched how to sample antique versions of the six beverages for ourselves. I’ll try to find some St. Peter’s Brewing King Cnut ale – I’ve seen that brand at Whole Foods. I think I’ll pass on old-time coffee, which is supposedly best replicated with a pot of coffee that’s been on a whole day.

If you have any particular fondness for any of the six beverages listed above, I think you’ll enjoy this book, and get a refresher course in world history along the way. Cheers!

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