Alcohol and Drugs History Society

Coffeehouses in early modern Istanbul (article)

Selma Akyazici ÖZKOÇAK, "Coffeehouses: Rethinking the Public and Private in Early Modern Istanbul," Journal of Urban History 33/6 (September 2007): 965-986.

More opium conference papers

World History Association conference, Salem, Massachusetts, June 25-28, 2009.

A. Uner Turgay (McGill University), American Trade in Turkish Opium in the 19th Century

John Wills (Southern California University), The First Inhalers: A World-Historical Question

Paul Winther (Eastern Kentucky University), The Missionaries are Right, the Missionaries are Wrong: Misery and Opium in China, 1756-1917.

Turkish coffee on the web

A Turklsh-American business entrepreneur Mustafa Arat has created a website to sell everything needed to make Turkish coffee, from pots to the coffee itself. For more, see here.

Turkey to phase in ban on smoking in public facilities

Effective July 2009, Turkey will phase in a ban on smoking in public facilities such as restaurants, hotels, and government offices. For more, see here.

Raki controversy: secularism, Islam, and health in Turkey

Recently there has been controversy about laws regulating the sale of alcoholic drinks in Turkey. Sometimes this is represented as a struggle between Islamic and secular cultures and sometimes about health because of the danger of counterfeit drinks. The drink ordinarily consumed is raki: a distilled beverage made from grape-based alcohol and anise. For details about the controversy, see here.

American missionaries and the opium trade in the Ottoman empire

American Missionaries and the Opium Trade in the Ottoman Empire
Timothy M. Roberts (Bilkent University), at World History Association conference, Milwaukee, June 2007

History of Turkish coffee

When coffee beans first came to Istanbul in 1555, they were eaten. Only later did Ottoman society create a drink, so-called Turkish coffee. For more, see here.

Coffee Republic and the New York City deli

The British-Iranian Hashemi family incorporates features of the New York City deli in its Coffee Republic chain. In addition to coffee houses in Britain, Coffee Republic has outlets in Bulgaria and Turkey and plans to enter the coffee house market in Bahrain and elsewhere in the Persian Gulf region.

Want to get a read on Turkish politics? Check guest list, drinks menu at presidential bashes

Turkey's new president, a devout Muslim, held his first palace receptions last week, and observers noted two seemingly trivial details: Alcohol was served, and the leader's wife and top military generals didn't show up.

The IHT reports.

Smoking in the Ottoman Middle East (article)

James Grehan, "Smoking and 'Early Modern' Sociability: The Great Tobacco Debate in the Ottoman Middle East (Seventeenth to Eighteenth Centuries)," American Historical Review 111/5 (Dec. 2006), 1352-77. Grehan teaches history at Portland State University in Oregon.