"Why, this Satan's drink is so delicious that it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it. We shall fool Satan by baptizing it and making it a truly Christian beverage." - Pope Clement VIII, papacy from 1592 to 1605 Alcohol played a central role in the development of ancient Greek culture and medicine. The Greeks even worshiped Dionysus as the god of wine. The Romans later called this same god Bacchus. Yet the ancient world never mentioned a beverage that, today, about 90% of the developed world drinks regularly. What is this mystery drink? Coffee. As far as beverages go, coffee is a new kid on the block. Even as recently as five centuries ago, coffee was an obscure berry from the highlands of Ethiopia. Today over 1 billion people drink coffee. That makes it the most widely used psychoactive substance in the world. As author Michael Pollan observes, "For most of us, to be caffeinated to one degree or another has simply become baseline human consciousness." And it's hard to overestimate coffee's impact on culture and the global economy. |
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Keep a civil tongue.