London. There are more than two thousand registered cafés. They serve a social function, a pillar of the nascent bourgeois society. Coffee brings greater sobriety to the European population. To a certain extent, and for certain customers, it partially replaces wine and beer in bars and pubs. Workers no longer drink beer for breakfast. They are frequented exclusively by men. Caffeine is a psychoactive substance that blocks the effect of adenosine, a molecule that induces sleep. As a result, some blood vessels constrict while others dilate, and certain muscles contract more easily. Caffeine is toxic and causes death in doses around 10 grams (about 55 to 125 cups of coffee in a row). In London, sailors and merchants gather in Edward Lloyd’s café to review shipping lists, an activity that will lead to the founding of the Lloyd’s of London insurance company. Various banks, newspapers, and even the London Stock Exchange thus began their activities. All, perhaps, thanks to an alkaloid: caffeine.
