Six drinks that ruled the world

I started panicking last week when I realized my vacation is almost over. A couple of weeks from now, I will have to pursue another academic milestone which is necessary for the enhancement of my cranial capacity so I can be dubbed a virtuoso in my field. And because the clock is ticking and I'm slowly running out of vacation days, I started making the most of my time again. 

My day has been really productive because I read another history book. This book is exceptional in that it clearly narrates important historical events as viewed from a different perspective. The angle with which history is told is based on the six indispensable beverages: beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and Coca-Cola. The story begins as far back as the Neolithic age where people became acquainted with agriculture. They serendipitously discovered beer, a brown intoxicating liquid derived from the fermentation of germinated cereal grains. The book also briefly discusses the Greek and the Roman Empires and how the discovery of wine played a big role in these societies. With the desire for these intoxicating drinks, people have further developed ways to concentrate alcohol in beverages by means of distillation. This is when spirits became widely popular.

Three non-alcoholic drinks also notably played a big role in shaping society. Coffee, which originated in Arabia, became the potent ingredient in unleashing the genius among men during the Age of Reason. Coffeehouses became widely popular during this age as these served as meeting places for men to discuss science, politics and other worldly affairs. Tea, on the other hand, became widely popular among women who, at that time, had no place in the coffeehouses as these were basically frequented by men. Tea became very much popular during the Age of Industrial Revolution. This beverage  also eventually became synonymous with the British culture. Finally, the book also discusses Coca Cola, a beverage which everyone in the world has probably tasted. The beverage picked up its momentum as the US gained a foothold and dominated in the international arena. Being sold on almost every corner of the world, Coca Cola is no doubt a drink that symbolizes globalization.