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Coffee houses existed at that time but coffee itself was not thought of in quite the same way as today. It wasn’t taken for granted that it was a harmless stimu

Coffee houses existed at that time but coffee itself was not thought of in quite the same way as today. It wasn’t taken for granted that it was a harmless stimulant, or even a stimulant at all. The idea of taking a pill to cure a disease did exist; it would’ve been called a “specific.” Pills were handmade but were fairly common based on what I’ve seen, although cordials, electuaries, and other drinkables predominated.

benj111 8y ago
Interesting, thanks. "or even a stimulant at all" Its strange that tea was thought of as a stimulant but not coffee?! I could drink 10 cups of tea, and only feel the urge to wee. That much coffee and I'd be up the wall! But then the Victorians were shooting up opiates whilst warning of the dangers of alcohol so I suppose there is a lot of 'cultural conditioning' going on there (and here).
- thaumasiotes 8y ago
  > I could drink 10 cups of tea, and only feel the urge to wee. That much coffee and I'd be up the wall! This just looks like evidence that you don't drink tea and don't know what's in it, or that you've confused herbal tea with tea from the tea plant. Tea seems to have about half the amount of caffeine coffee does. For example, here are figures from the Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/art-20049372 https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-h... Coffee is more of a stimulant than tea, but tea is still very strong, so it's unsurprising that the British were aware of its effects. If you're trying to stay awake, tea will do the job.
- n4r9 8y ago
  It depends on the quality of leaves and style of preparation. The mental stimulation you get from black tea in a modern UK cafe is mild and very different from what you'd experience from Chinese Gong Fu Cha [0], or from Russian chifir [1]. Herbal infusions, which are still referred to as tea by many Americans and Europeans, will have almost no stimulant effect. It's quite likely that Boyle first drank tea in coffeehouses, where [2]: > The whole of the day's tea would be brewed in the morning, taxed by a visiting excise officer, and then kept in barrels and reheated as necessary throughout the rest of the day. If I was a coffeehouse owner, I would brew that tea for a long time to get as concentrated a drink out of it as possible. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gongfu_tea_ceremony https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gongfu_tea_ceremony [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chifir https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chifir [2] https://www.tea.co.uk/a-social-history https://www.tea.co.uk/a-social-history

benj111 8y ago

Interesting, thanks. "or even a stimulant at all" Its strange that tea was thought of as a stimulant but not coffee?! I could drink 10 cups of tea, and only feel the urge to wee. That much coffee and I'd be up the wall! But then the Victorians were shooting up opiates whilst warning of the dangers of alcohol so I suppose there is a lot of 'cultural conditioning' going on there (and here).

thaumasiotes 8y ago
> I could drink 10 cups of tea, and only feel the urge to wee. That much coffee and I'd be up the wall! This just looks like evidence that you don't drink tea and don't know what's in it, or that you've confused herbal tea with tea from the tea plant. Tea seems to have about half the amount of caffeine coffee does. For example, here are figures from the Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/art-20049372 https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-h... Coffee is more of a stimulant than tea, but tea is still very strong, so it's unsurprising that the British were aware of its effects. If you're trying to stay awake, tea will do the job.
n4r9 8y ago
It depends on the quality of leaves and style of preparation. The mental stimulation you get from black tea in a modern UK cafe is mild and very different from what you'd experience from Chinese Gong Fu Cha [0], or from Russian chifir [1]. Herbal infusions, which are still referred to as tea by many Americans and Europeans, will have almost no stimulant effect. It's quite likely that Boyle first drank tea in coffeehouses, where [2]: > The whole of the day's tea would be brewed in the morning, taxed by a visiting excise officer, and then kept in barrels and reheated as necessary throughout the rest of the day. If I was a coffeehouse owner, I would brew that tea for a long time to get as concentrated a drink out of it as possible. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gongfu_tea_ceremony https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gongfu_tea_ceremony [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chifir https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chifir [2] https://www.tea.co.uk/a-social-history https://www.tea.co.uk/a-social-history