1,3,7,trimethylxanthine = Caffeine
I do not feel I am truly myself until after I have drank my first cup of coffee in the morning. Like billions of people around the world, this legal drug, caffeine, prepares me for the world. Also like billions around the world, I am addicted to the brew. I enjoyed the buzz of a double or triple espresso before watching an action movie, or a warm cappuccino to wind me down at the end of a stressful day.
Coffee originated in the highlands of Ethiopia. Coffee seeds were brought by Arab traders from Ethiopia to Yemen. The first mention of coffee was around the fifteenth century when it was used as a medicine. However, by the sixteenth century Arabs begin to drink brewed coffee socially. As alcohol was forbidden in Islam, coffee became an acceptable substitute. Coffee houses sprang up overnight and became social centres where men would hang around drinking coffee and telling tall tales. From Yemen, it spread to Turkey, India and Java. Coffee beans and coffee growing was strictly controlled by the Arabs. The Dutch finally managed to bring a tree back to Holland. This tree was grafted and grown in Paris. This tree was supposed to the the ancestors of the millions of coffee plants around the world.
In an earlier post, I have mentioned the close association of coffee drinking and book selling. Many bookstores also sell coffee. People will spend hours pouring over their books and coffee.
Anne Fadiman (2007) At Large and At Same: Confessions of a Literary Hedonist, London: Allen Lane is a collection of personal essays by bibliophile Anne Fadiman. Though it was not a good as her earlier book, Ex Libris, it does bring across her love of reading, her familiarity with many literary figures and their works.
There is a chapter title 'Coffee' where she shares her love of the drink and some nostalgic memories of being with some literary friends while drinking coffee when she was younger.
I suspect that there is a connection between the development of books and the widespread consumption of coffee. I do not believe anyone has done any study of this phenomenon. I will not be surprised if there is a correlationship, because reading a book or the act of writing is more pleasant when you have a warm cup of 1,3,7, trimethylxanthine in your stomach.
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I do not feel I am truly myself until after I have drank my first cup of coffee in the morning. Like billions of people around the world, this legal drug, caffeine, prepares me for the world. Also like billions around the world, I am addicted to the brew. I enjoyed the buzz of a double or triple espresso before watching an action movie, or a warm cappuccino to wind me down at the end of a stressful day.
Coffee originated in the highlands of Ethiopia. Coffee seeds were brought by Arab traders from Ethiopia to Yemen. The first mention of coffee was around the fifteenth century when it was used as a medicine. However, by the sixteenth century Arabs begin to drink brewed coffee socially. As alcohol was forbidden in Islam, coffee became an acceptable substitute. Coffee houses sprang up overnight and became social centres where men would hang around drinking coffee and telling tall tales. From Yemen, it spread to Turkey, India and Java. Coffee beans and coffee growing was strictly controlled by the Arabs. The Dutch finally managed to bring a tree back to Holland. This tree was grafted and grown in Paris. This tree was supposed to the the ancestors of the millions of coffee plants around the world.
In an earlier post, I have mentioned the close association of coffee drinking and book selling. Many bookstores also sell coffee. People will spend hours pouring over their books and coffee.Anne Fadiman (2007) At Large and At Same: Confessions of a Literary Hedonist, London: Allen Lane is a collection of personal essays by bibliophile Anne Fadiman. Though it was not a good as her earlier book, Ex Libris, it does bring across her love of reading, her familiarity with many literary figures and their works.
There is a chapter title 'Coffee' where she shares her love of the drink and some nostalgic memories of being with some literary friends while drinking coffee when she was younger.
I suspect that there is a connection between the development of books and the widespread consumption of coffee. I do not believe anyone has done any study of this phenomenon. I will not be surprised if there is a correlationship, because reading a book or the act of writing is more pleasant when you have a warm cup of 1,3,7, trimethylxanthine in your stomach.
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