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Beer
Beer, the first major “symbol” in the book, has meant many things to many different civilizations (at one point, it was considered a gateway to the realm of the gods). Nevertheless, for more than…
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Wine
From nearly the beginning of its existence, wine has been the drink of power and sophistication. Arguably more than any of the other symbol-drinks in Standage’s book, then, wine’s symbolic significance is plain, and has…
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Spirits
Spirits have symbolized multiple, contradictory things to different peoples over time. For the Muslims, who refused to drink alcohol, spirits (even more than other alcoholic beverages) symbolized sin and depravity—the violation of Islamic law. Yet…
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Coffee
As Standage argues, coffee has long symbolized intellect, creativity, and “just a streak of revolution.” During the Enlightenment, coffee—and the coffeehouses where it was served—represented a form of free, open discourse in which new ideas…
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Tea
As with coffee, tea began to take on symbolic meaning in the instant that it became a European beverage (it was symbolic long before that in Eastern cultures, but Standage touches on this very little)…
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Coca-Cola
For Standage, Coca-Cola’s status as the beverage that symbolizes America in all its glory and weakness began during the Great Depression, when the company ran a brilliant series of ads that depicted Coke as…
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