Coffee culture

Question

Coffee Culture Research

The adaptability of humans is an issue of concern. Whether we are a natural creation or an artificial one, is not yet clear. The most interesting aspect of our adaptability is the idea of the universal use of drugs. The use of drugs such as marijuana has grown into a worldwide culture. Moreover, users of such drugs have evolved their unique subculture within the mainstream culture. For instance, peasants of Colombia boast that marijuana helped them reduce tiredness and increase spirit and force. On the other hand, ordinaries consider marijuana a drowsy drug while it continues to exist among blacklisted drugs.

Similar situations on drugs and culture have been observed in Germany. It is believed that a German would still insist on smoking tobacco even on their deathbeds. More interestingly, such people would rather starve, than lack their daily dose of tobacco. Housewives made butter and sugar for the cigarette. It is impossible not to mention mentioning that people have so much love for coffee. It is believed that the drug (coffee) played a major role in the industrial revolution. Ideally, the drug helped people to stay alert as they focused on the industrialization dream. People still value the puzzling effects of caffeine that they gain from the drink. According to Weinberg and Bealer, revolutionaries preferred coffee, while in contrast, the Canadian freedom fighters were tea drinkers. The difference between tea and coffee is still unknown. After all, both drugs have sweet tastes and aromas. Indeed, modern life is artificial since people acquire their personality from chemical substances. Besides tea and coffee, Coca-Cola has remained part of our personality for decades. The drink was discovered in the 19th century by Pemberton, a French chemist. The initial brew of the coke was made from alcohol, kola nuts full of caffeine, and raw components of cocaine. The initial advertisement claimed that the drink “added life!”

In the 18th century, Coffee was a symbol of the upcoming middle classes while chocolate was a drink of the aristocracy. Caffeine has been compared along gender lines which is not enough fact to justify itself into every person’s life. Coffee houses have a significant role in European history. Indeed major revolutions and innovations were conceived in these coffee houses. In the 18th century, coffee houses played a major role in the egalitarian spirit that dominated Europe. The establishment of coffee houses across Europe began in the late 17th century. In mid 18th century, Europe had many coffee houses. In the same century, Western Europe had more beer lovers than America. Westerners drank beer at all times even in the morning they would take the beer soup. People started each day with a cup of coffee or strong tea, a major way to explain the dawn of industrialization as an unavoidable effect around the world where people preferred to be edgy rather than being drunk. Indeed modern life is synthetic, as people depend on chemical substances to build on their personalities. In this context, synthetic creations control their mood, activity, and consciousness.

Athletes have also taken drugs to enhance their performance. However, performance-enhancing drugs commonly used by athletes are considered illegal and hence undesirable. Such drugs or trends cannot be constituted into the current cultures. Besides the synthetic personalities acquired from the drug, the moments that a person exists under the influence of the drugs are also synthetic. During an interview with Ziyang Zhou, I discovered that drinking coffee is not only a habit but also a lifestyle. Ziyang Zhou confirmed that her mum drank coffee throughout her working days. He claimed that coffee helped her to suppress anxiety and work-related strains. Ziyang said, “Without my mum’s hard work and of course her coffee, I may not have a chance to study here.” He continued “now, my mum is just a housewife but still cannot quit coffee, one cup in the morning, one cup before going to bed, and several cups in the daytime have kept her along. If she misses her coffee, that’s a bad day for her.” Without doubts, his mum could not work without coffee and now caffeine has become part of her life. Thus, Ziyang and her mother’s life can be said to be composed of caffeine.

The main question that remains unanswered is why the modern world condones caffeine. Whether in tea, coffee, or a soft drink, caffeine moves faster and easily from the stomach into the bloodstream and then to the various organs. Unlike other chemicals, caffeine is absorbed more readily into the bloodstream. Moreover, caffeine is an excellent stimulant capable of crossing the brain barrier. The brain barrier is the defensive mechanism of the body that prevents any toxins from going into the central nervous system. A high concentration of caffeine in the central nervous system blocks the action of adenosine, which is the agent that controls sleep and consciousness. The most astonishing thing about caffeine is that its concentration in the brain falls after a short interval. Caffeine has never been linked to any serious illness. High or low intake of coffee, tea, or soft drinks has never been associated with any abnormalities. This could be the main reason why people are becoming synthetic creatures from consuming caffeine. Coffee creates a unique buzz. It was not more than 200 years that people realized that the buzz they extracted from coffee and tea was similar to the buzz that was produced by some chemical agents. Thus, the effects of caffeine have remained a major research subject. Consequently, scientists and health experts dislike the impacts of caffeine. Unexpectedly, caffeine has continued to gain popularity particularly among the youths and working populations. For example, the sale of energy drinks has increased overwhelmingly. Moreover, coffee shops have continued to gain popularity even in places where people never had a coffee drinking habit. Every working day Starbucks opens new branches somewhere in the world and employs almost 200 new employees. It is hardly a coincidence that coffee and tea were greatly appreciated in Europe just as industrialization was coming up. Indeed, there must be something peculiar within both drugs. The creation of coffee and tea drinking habits is also interesting. An interested person would wish to know what people used to take for breakfast before the alleged discovery of coffee. In addition, one may be interested in knowing the popular drink(s) that stepped down for tea and coffee. As an established culture, coffee and tea continued to define European culture. Countries would be categorized as either tea or coffee drinkers. Presumably, coffee drinking was promoted to substitute beer and other alcoholic drinks. Ideally, the idea was meant to transform European society from a drunken society into a working society. Thus, caffeine made the industrial revolution a reality. “Caffeine is a drug that made the technological world possible and the more modern the world gets the more crave of it” (Reid, 1996).

Coffee is not a magic bullet or as healthy as it seems. Coffee has caffeine as a stimulant and consumption of it causes headaches and a racing heartbeat. The drink is also associated with hallucination, which is a more severe condition. In the US, coffee is more of a household name than the American pie. Current research shows that consistent coffee drinkers have an almost 39% chance of developing neck and head cancer. Caffeine comes in multiple disguises each with a readymade story attached to it a combination of superstition and history, which infuses the daily ritual of blocking adenosine. Indeed our lives revolve around the very caffeine that we created. Whether humans will remain entangled to caffeine or will break always from its bondages remains a mystery. As Gladwell once said, “Give man just enough coffee and he shall be capable of achieving anything” (Gladwell, 2001). Thus, caffeine will remain as long as humanity does.