"There are those who love to get dirty and fix things.
They drink coffee at dawn, beer after work.
And those who stay clean, just appreciate things.
At breakfast they have milk and juice at night.
There are those who do both, they drink tea."
Gary Snyder
H. G. Clayton asked: When and by whom were tea, coffee, and whisky first used as a beverage?
The use of tea among the Chinese, from whom it has extended
to all parts of the world, cannot be traced with certainty further
back than to 350 A. D., or thereabouts. This use did not become
general in China until about A. D. 800. It was first introduced into
Europe by the Dutch in 1610. How long coffee has been used in Arabia,
its native country, is not certainly known. It was introduced into
Egypt in the sixteenth century. The first coffee house in Europe
was established in Constantinople in 1551. The first person to make
it known to Western Europe seems to have been Leonhard Rauwolf, a
German physician, a great traveler. Once introduced, the use of this
delightful beverage extended rapidly. Coffee houses sprung up in all
the chief cities. The first one in London was opened by a Greek in
Newman’s court, Cornhill, in 1652; the first one in France was opened
in Marseilles in 1671; the first one in Paris in 1672. The earliest
manufacture of whisky is generally referred to the middle of the
sixteenth century, but there are some reasons for believing that it
had an earlier origin. It was made by the Gaels from barley, which
still yields the best quality, and was called by them uisge beatha,
later usque baugh, the water of life—of which first word “whisky”
is a corruption.
That Q & A was from the late 1800s and being somewhat curious, I wondered if any new information had come to light that might change the facts above. So, as is the wont of the average American in this day and age, I headed to the font of all knowledge and veracity, Google, and asked its AI interface, Gemini, the exact same question posed by H. G. Clayton. What follows is the response I received.
The exact origins of tea, coffee, and whisky as beverages are somewhat shrouded in history and mystery, but here's a general timeline:
- Tea:
- Coffee:
- Discovery: Coffee is believed to have originated in Ethiopia, where it was discovered by goat herders who noticed their goats becoming more energetic after eating coffee beans.
- Spread: Coffee drinking gradually spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa, and eventually reached Europe in the 16th century.
- Whisky:
- Origins: The exact origins of whisky are debated, but it is generally believed to have developed from fermented grains, such as barley, in regions like Mesopotamia and Egypt.
- Distillation: The process of distilling fermented grains to create a stronger alcoholic beverage is thought to have originated in the Middle East or North Africa.
- Scotland and Ireland: Whisky became particularly popular in Scotland and Ireland, where it developed its own unique characteristics.
It's important to note that these are just approximate timelines, and the exact dates and locations of the first uses of these beverages may vary depending on the specific sources and interpretations.
Having enjoyed that last disclaimer immensely, it also got me to thinking that additional sources were, indeed, needed to finish this up as well as reminding of the quote by Jerry Baldwin:
Show (don't tell) your customers that you have good quality by actually delivering fresh coffee and tea. Intelligent people are active recipients of information, and prefer to reach conclusions by themselves.
Therefore, I wandered over the web to
perplexity ai and asked it H. G. Clayton's question. It generated the following seven sources:
- https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/discussion/just-your-cup-of-tea-the-history-and-health-claims-of-the-nations-favourite-brew
- https://tandobeverage.com/history-of-beverages/
- https://www.ncausa.org/about-coffee/history-of-coffee
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_alcoholic_drinks
- https://www.foodtimeline.org/foodbeverages.html
- https://whiskeyrebelliontrail.com/whiskey-history-the-first-industrial-revolution/
- https://www.karmakettle.com/blogs/tea-tales/which-came-first-coffee-or-tea
I suggest that one make what one will with all of this, or make oneself a drink, or both!
(Let me depart with one last philosophical question: If one can /tea someone in the chatterbox, and one can /coffee someone in the chatterbox, why cannot one also /whisky someone in the chatterbox?)
Historical source:
The Inter Ocean Curiosity Shop for the year 1883
edited by William P. Jones, A. M.
Seventh Edition
The Inter Ocean Publishing Company,
Madison and Dearborn Streets
Chicago
1891
See also:
https://gemini.google.com/
https://www.perplexity.ai/