It is disgusting to notice the increase in coffee used by my subjects and the amount of money that goes out of the country in consequence. Everybody is using coffee. His Majesty was brought up on beer and so were his ancestors and his officers. Many battles have been fought and won by soldiers nourished on beer, and the King does not believe that coffee-drinking soldiers can be depended on to endure hardship or beat his enemies in the case of the occurrence of another war.
Frederick the Great of Prussia, 1777. Quoted in A. Barr, Drink: a social history (1995), 212-3
No comments:
Post a Comment