There are good reasons that when scholars study either the history of stimulants or of commodities, tea, chocolate, and coffee are often lumped together as if they had been collectively steeping in a cup for centuries. The leaves and beans from three plants—Camellia sinensis, coffea, theobroma cacao—all converged in Europe at roughly the same time, around the 16th century. The similarities, moreover, continue in that the three contain caffeine (or in the case of cacao caffeine and theobromine), are historically consumed as hot beverages, and for European cultures whose practices extended through their colonies, were consumed with the addition of sugar. Indeed, although Mintz' focus was of sugar and the above quote mentions tea, he too included both coffee and chocolate in his seminal work.

Yet, at the same time, it would be folly to limit the study to such similarities, for tea, chocolate, and coffee each have their own varied and complicated pasts. They may all speak to the same series of topics that Mintz discusses—tastes, societal transformations, economics, social power, producer-consumer relationships, definition of the self, and meanings of power—but the paths they took and the nuances that they reveal can be quite different, if we are to consider religion, gender, or meaning. Tea, chocolate, and coffee, rather than having a history, have many fragmented histories, which have developed over time and place. It is in this spirit that we consider these commodities. We acknowledge that we have not presented a complete history, but rather (to use Mintz' words) some kindred events, through which we can begin to understand the deeply complicated history of these foods/commodities.

They continue to reside in our lives today. They are objects of banal daily habits as well as centerpieces of highly ritualized moments and this against a backdrop of large historical changes of capitalism, industrialism, and geopolitics. In this exhibit we attempt to balance the sweet side of history—convivial, comforting, gustatorial pleasure—with a realistic dose of bitterness—slavery and exploited labor, Imperialism, and "othering"—to illustrate the complex nature of history.

While we hope you will enjoy this virtual exhibit, we also hope that it gives you pause, to contemplate your place in the continuum of time, when you drink your next sip of history.