Philobiblon: Politics and your choice of beverage

Saturday, October 09, 2004

Politics and your choice of beverage

In the 1670s and 1680s, "coffee itself was often identified as 'puritanical', 'seditious' and 'Whig', whereas ale or tea was often seen as 'conformist', 'loyal' and 'Tory'."

Must be off to Starbucks then .... yes I know that's not a PC statement, but after living in Bangkok for a few years I can hardly explain to you how wonderful it was when Starbucks arrived: air-conditioned, no smoking, no alcohol, and no women with numbers on their dresses: Starbucks and Irish theme pubs made Bangkok a far more livable place.

from M. Zook, Radical Whigs and Conspiratorial Politics in Late Stuart England, Penn State Uni Press, 1999, p. 6.

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