Alcohol and Drugs History Society

Historic coffeehouses of Budapest

Few of the historic coffeehouses of Budapest have survived World War II and Communism. The exceptions are Gerbeaud (founded, 1858) and Belle Epoque Central Kavehaz (1887), and the latter has not been a coffeehouse continuously. There are new ones such as Kavehaz Miró that have attained similar stature. Hungarian coffee drinks sometimes differ from those elsewhere, as you can see here. Obviously, Kavehaz means coffeehouse!

Irish adults third largest per capita drinkers in Europe

Irish adults drink more alcohol per capita than any other Europeans with the exception of those in Luxembourg and Hungary. Although the Irish drink less beer than in the past, beer still comprises about half of Irish alcohol consumption. Perhaps a sign of prosperity in the Irish Republic, the Irish now drink slightly more wine than whiskey. For more, see here. Per capita consumption among Irish adults who drink may be higher than even their counterparts in Luxembourg and Hungary. Traditionally many Irish Catholics are total abstainers, often members of the teetotal Pioneers of the Sacred Heart, founded at the end of the nineteenth century. Or it may be that modernization in Ireland has shrunk the Pioneers to numerical irrelevance.

Smoking in 19th cent. Hungary (article)

“'Such a smoking nation as this I never saw...': Smoking, Nationalism, and Manliness in Nineteenth-Century Hungary," by Alexander Maxwell, in Social History of Alcohol and Drugs 21/1 (Fall 2006).

Social History of Alcohol & Drugs, 21/1 (Fall 2006), published

The Alcohol and Drugs History Society announces the publication of volume 21, number 1 (Fall 2006) of the Social History of Alcohol and Drugs: An Interdisciplinary Journal.  Hardcopy has been mailed to ADHS members and institutional subscribers.  The full contents will be posted online in Fall 2007.  This number of SHAD is a special issue on smoking and tobacco, with four articles looking at Canada, Hungary, and Russia.   There also are six book reviews on various topics.

The editor of the Social History of Alcohol and Drugs is:

Dan Malleck
Department of Community Health Sciences
Brock University
500 Glenridge Avenue
St. Catherines, Ontario L2S 3A1
Canada
[email protected]

How café culture influenced writers and artists

Ibsen, Satre and Dali worked best with a glass in front of them. A new book explores the contribution made by café culture to their greatest creations. The Independent reports.

Corpse pickled in rum

According to this Reuters report, a group of Hungarian workers found the body of man in a cask of rum. It had been in there for twenty years. The rum had a "special taste" which the enjoyed until the discovery. Reminds me of an Edgar Allan Poe story.

Hugarian agriculture (article)

Swain, Nigel. “From Kolkhoz to Holding Company: A Hungarian Agricultural Producer Co-operative in Transition.” Journal of Historical Sociology 13:2 (2000), 142-171. [A history of a collective farm during the transition from socialism to capitalism after 1989.]

World Coffee Demand Rises

Yahoo News reports (7 March 2005) that coffee-sales opportunities exist in mature and newer markets, with Eastern Europe, parts of Western Europe, Japan and other Asian nations all looking promising, said John Gilmore, of Datamonitor, speaking at a National Coffee Association conference in Aventura, Florida.  Overall coffee demand in the 40 countries tracked by Datamonitor's research is growing by 1%-1.5% annually and should increase at a faster pace later in the decade. Western Europe is the largest single market for coffee, with 63% of consumption from roasted, ground beans and the rest from instant coffee. Find the full story here.

Breweries suffering as Western European market falls flat

For the Scotsman.com, Scott Reid reports (23 February 2005) that the world’s big brewers are seeing their profits flow in the wrong direction. It may be at odds with the lager-lout beer-swilling image, but sales in western Europe have fallen flat. In a bid to restore some much-needed fizz, companies such as Heineken, Carlsberg and brewer Scottish & Newcastle are looking to less mature markets, such as Russia and China. Find the full story here.

Hungarian Wine

A history of Hungarian wine can be found here.