A History of the World in Six Glasses

The process of distillation is believed to have been discovered somewhere during the mid 1300's.

Arnold of Villanava produced instructions for distilling wine. He gave the result the name aqua vitae because he believed it to be the water of immortality.

Sometime during the 1430's Johannes Gutenberg developed a printing press.

In the 1440's the Portuguese began to ship black slaves from the West coast of Africa. Distilled beverages were used as payment to slave traders.

Puff von Schrick wrote the first printed book on distillation. Fourteen editions had appeared by 1500.

While searching for a westerly passage to the East Indies he located the Caribbean islands. The Islands became locations of sugarcane farms, and utilized slaves from Africa.

Yemen, a country in the Middle East, was the first place where coffee became popular.

Arabia had a monopoly over coffee until the end of the seventeenth century when Dutch gains commercial superiority.

Burned down many of the 83 coffeehouses in London at the time.

King Charles II attempted to ban coffee in a "Proclamation for the suppression of Coffee-houses," saying that its effects were "evil." Many other insurgencies against coffee were raised around this time, but the drink had become so integral that none of them were effective in preventing it.

Also known as the Age of Reasoning; coffeehouses were a central location of communication of scientific principles.

Initiated by Camille Desmoulins in at Café de Foy.

Legend has it that the first cup of tea was brewed for the Chinese emperor Shen Nung. No documentation has validated this, however.

During the Tang Dynasty, tea's popularity dramatically increased, elevating to becoming China's national beverage.

By the 14th century, tea had spread throughout all of Japan. Japan admired tea, even creating elaborate "tea ceremonies" in honor of the drink.

This decrease is thought to be a result of Tea's medicinal properties.

Britain's sphere of control exponentially expanded in the later 18th century by establishing control of India and Canada, colonizing Australia and New Zealand, and gaining control of the sea trade from the Dutch.

In response to the Britain's Tea Act, enraged Americans threw off all cargo containing tea off of ships in Boston. This sparked the flames for the Revolutionary War.

Initially brewed by Joseph Priestly in London.

In 1770 sparkling water was first sold as a medicine.

Joseph Hawkins developed a soda fountain during the 1800's. Soda fountains became common in apothecaries during the 1820's.

Schweppe and Paul began to export their soda water to other countries in the 1800's.

John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in May 1886.

In 1911 Thomas and Whitehead were given permission to sell bottled Coke. Due to the success of bottled Coke, the iconic Coke bottle was made in 1916.

Coca-Cola was supplied to American servicemen during World War 2, and the drink was linked to patriotism.

During the Cold War period Coca-Cola become associated with America and Western values, such as freedom, democracy, and free-market capitalism.