Tea, coffee and chocolate: the ancient culture of the three kingdoms! See how they became popular around the world

"People drink beer and wine during meals and honey water after meals," wrote Kempff, a traveler who visited Moscow in the 17th century.

At that time, people in our area had never heard of coffee. There were no teapots, samovars, or coffee pots. Tea was first brought to Europe in 1610 by some Dutch merchants from the distant island of Java. The merchants were used to boasting about their goods. They called tea the holy grass and recommended that everyone drink forty or fifty cups a day, at any time of the day.

There was a Dutch doctor who prescribed tea for all his patients, no matter what disease they had... But in fact, tea is not a grass at all, it is made from the leaves of the tea plant. Tea is naturally not a medicine at all, and strong tea is even harmful to health.

In Europe, tea was first drunk only by the rich, because tea was expensive there. Coffee came after tea. Long ago, European merchants, after visiting Turkey and Egypt, often told of a magical tree there. From the seeds of this tree, the Turks made a drink called "Kawa" or "Kaffa", which people drank in taverns instead of alcohol. This drink dispelled worries, strengthened the stomach, and made people strong and healthy. Soon, coffee appeared at French court banquets. Then the duke followed the king, the earls and viscounts followed the duke, and the untitled nobles, merchants, doctors, and lawyers followed the titled nobles, and they all began to drink coffee. Suddenly, many coffee houses were opened, and people sat in them all day long. What was accepted by the court soon became popular.

However, coffee has had its enemies. Some people believe that Catholics cannot drink Turkish coffee. Others believe that Minister Kolber burned his stomach because of coffee. Coffee shortens life, causes colic, makes you depressed, and causes stomach ulcers. One princess even announced that she would never drink "blackened tobacco with water" again - that's what she called coffee. Compared with these exotic drinks, she prefers healthy old beer. We can tell exactly when coffee and tea appeared among us.

In 1665, Dr. Samuel Collins wrote a prescription for Tsar Alexi Mikhailovich. The prescription reads: Coffee is the after-meal drink of the Turks and Persians, while boiled tea leaves are quite widely used to treat colds and headaches. Chocolate was even more suspicious than coffee. Everyone said that chocolate should be fed to pigs because it would ignite the blood and kill people.

When chocolate was brought back from Mexico by the famous traveler Hernán Cortés, it was indeed not like the chocolate we eat today. The Mexicans made chocolate from a mixture of cocoa, grains, and peppers without adding sugar. Later, they began to make the chocolate we eat today. People ground cocoa beans, mixed them with sugar, vanilla, and other flavor additives, and then pressed them.

So who is right in these debates over tea, coffee and chocolate?

Tea and coffee are sparsely nourished, and besides, they contain substances that are harmful to the heart and nerves. The remaining chocolate contains a lot of fat and rich protein. No wonder people who travel to the Arctic bring a lot of chocolate. Good stories should be shared with everyone. Keep paying attention and update every day. See you there!