A History of the World in Six Glasses

What Hacker News says

1. GMoromisatoSep 2026
   I love Tom Standage’s book, A History of the World in Six Glasses. It talks about: beer (Mesopotamia), wine (Greece/Rome), spirits (Spanish colonization), tea (British colonization), coffee (world wars), and Coca-Cola (American empire).

   It’s amazingly coherent.

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2. munificentDec 2019
   You would love "A History of the World in Six Glasses".
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3. js2Feb 2017
   See also: A History of the World in Six Glasses

   https://tomstandage.wordpress.com/books/a-history-of-the-wor...

   The book covers: beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and cola.

   It was a fun read.

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4. flotherFeb 2026
   You’re in good company. Tom Standage makes the same argument in his book A History of the World in Six Glasses.

   https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3872.A_History_of_the_Wo...

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5. hinkleyJan 2024
   Tea and beer are pathogen-depleted and so it makes a ton of sense that they were both imbibed 'to excess'.

   History of the World in Six Glasses claims that tea and coffee more or less caused the enlightenment. One, it stopped day drinking by the intellectual class. And two, they were foil for socialization.

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6. ctdonathMar 2018
   A History of the World in Six Glasses https://smile.amazon.com/History-World-6-Glasses-ebook/dp/B0...
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