Alcohol and Drugs History Society

Heineken buys Mexican brewery

In a multi-billion dollar deal the Dutch brewery Heineken beat out MillerSAB to purchase the brewery operations of the Mexican firm Femsa which brews Dos Equis and Tecate beers.  For more, see here.

The joint? it's all in the name of research (and Amsterdam's Cannabis Cup)

Novelist Mark Haskell Smith discusses his forthcoming novel, Baked, and his research in Amsterdam's marijuana culture.  For more, see here.

Dutch gin in West Africa (book review)

Insa Nolte, book review of Dmitri van den Bersselaar, The King of Drinks: Schapps Gin from Modernity to Tradition, in Social History of Alcohol and Drugs 23/2 (Spring 2009): 201-203.

Eighteenth-century diffusion of tea and coffee drinking (article)

Anne E. C. McCants, "Poor Consumers as Global Consumers: The Diffusion of Tea and Coffee Drinking in the Eighteenth Century," Economic History Review 61 Special Issue (2008): 172-200.

World economic crisis forces German coffee roaster Tchibo to cut back

Germany's largest coffee roaster Tchibo has reacted to the world economic crisis with retrenchment and a new geographical focus.  It has closed its operations in France and the Netherlands and cut back on them in Britain (where it supplies supermarkets).  Instead it will focus on Eastern Europe.  In its core German market Tchibo has closed its chain of coffee shops which additionally sold other consumer goods.  For more, see here.

Amsterdam to close 20% of its marijuana-selling "coffee shops"

Amsterdam soon will close a fifth of its marijuana-selling "coffee shops" in accord with national policy that forbids the sale of drugs near schools.  Tired of "drug tourists" from France, German, and Belgium, border towns are considering a total ban.  In addition, growers face arrest as they are not part of Dutch tolerance of the sale of "soft drugs."  For details, see here.

Chinese beer brand called Snow now the world's second largest by volume

The leading beer brands by volume are:

Bud Light (USA/InBev)

Snow (China)

Budweiser (USA/InBev)

Skol (Brazil)

Corona (Mexico)

Heineken (Netherlands)

Brahma (Brazil/InBev)

Coors Light (USA/owned by a Canadianfirm)

Miller Lite (USA/owned by SABMiller, based in London)

Tsingtao (China)

The largest beer markets are China, USA, Russia, Brazil, and Germany.

For more, see here.

Caring for chronic addicts in Amsterdam (article)

Gemma Blok (Universiteit van Amsterdam), "Pampering 'Needle Freaks' or Caring for Chronic Addicts? Early Debates on Harm Reduction in Amsterdam, 1972-82," Social History of Alcohol and Drugs 22/2 (Spring 2008): 243-261.

Alcoholism and hereditary health in Holland (article)

Stephen Snelders, Frans J. Meijman, and Toine Pieters (first two at VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam and third at University of Gröningen, also the Netherlands), "Alcoholism and Hereditary Health in Dutch Medical Discourse, 1900-45: Biology versus Psychology in Coping with Addiction," Social History of Alcohol and Drugs 22/2 (Spring 2008): 130-143.

Heredity and alcoholism in the Netherlands, 1850-1900 (article)

Stephen Snelders and others, "Heredity and Alcoholism in the Medical Sphere: the Netherlands, 1850-1900," Medical History 51/2 (2007): 219-236.