The California World Affairs Council has a wonderful lecture by Tom Standage, Technology Editor for The Economist and author of A history of the World in Six Glasses. His overview of his book seperates history into six eras, dictated by types of drink. It’s available here (mp3 or real audio). Good stuff starts about 5 mins into the lecture.
Did you know?
- Pyramid builders were paid in beer
- Agriculture may have been ‘invented’ to make beer, not bread
- Scholarly gatherings are called “Symposiums” because of Roman communal wine drinking
- Jesus’ first miricle involved wine, and it was the last drink before his death
- Trade Triangle (Slave Trade) involved brady/liqour trade as much as slaves
- Britian’s Naval supremacy was due to rum (grog, actually)
- At one point there was 1 coffee shop in London per 300 people in 1700s (take that, starbucks)
- The London stock exchange started as a coffee shop
- The French Revolution started in a coffee shop!
… and there’s lots of other fun bits of knowledge. Obviously history has more factors than just beverages, but this is a wonderful way to learn about the historical impact of our favorite drinks. It’s about an hour long, check it out.
Further justification that purchasing beer you can’t pronounce is a good idea! Alyssa and I randomly stopped at a swanky grocery store on the way back from SFSU today. The place had a decent beer selection, so I picked up a few bottles.
Tried this earlier tonight. I’m a big fan of Stone Brewing in general, their Imperial Stout is one of my favorite beers. After being scared away by the insulting diatribe on the back of their Double Bastard Ale, I opted to try their Smoked Porter. In actuality, there was a very positive review of this beer at my local 
makes for a very interesting but pleasant taste. People with more refined taste buds than I claim to notice a chocolatey and coffee-like taste, but all I can pick up is peety and smokey flavors.