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Caffeine
The idea that one ought to have something "eye-opening" at breakfast is a relatively new one, and can be traced to the arrival of coffee and tea in Europe in the mid-17th century. Before caffeine, beer was considered to be a staple nutrient, nearly to the degree that bread was, and it was consumed at all hours of the day. At breakfast, it made an appearance both as a beverage and in a sort of bread soup. It took some time for coffee and tea to cease to be considered luxury items, but once the prices dropped enough, more and more people acquired a taste for them. Europeans soon noticed that the people who sipped steaming brown beverages in the mornings were more clear-headed and productive than those who kept to older habits. Coffeehouses became popular places to meet and conduct business. With the arrival of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the working class, caffeine claimed once and for all its modern-day position at breakfast. Consider, as a frame of reference, the 200 milligrams of caffeine found in a Vivarin tablet. Coffee contains between 50 and 170 milligrams of caffeine to a cup, depending on the method used for brewing, the ratio of coffee grounds to water, and the type of bean (gourmet arabica beans contain about half as much caffeine as the more economical but less tasty robusta beans). Tea (also subject to dramatic variation based on the sorts of tea leaves and methods used to brew them) ranges from 25 to 100 milligrams. On the other hand, hot chocolate contains no more than 25 milligrams of caffeine, accounting for its long popularity among the nobility in the 17th century. The rich not only had no reason to get moving early, they often slept into the afternoon, and then breakfasted in bed. |
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