War is hell — and sometimes thecoffeeis , too .
Consider the American Civil War , a four - year bloodbath that divided a Carry Nation and claimed the lives of between650,000 and 850,000Union and band together soldiers . Looking back at such drab times , there ’s comfort to be recover in moments of humans , be it sweeping acts of moral responsibility or small fragments of everyday aliveness sprinkled amongst the madness , like complaining about piteous burnt umber .
nutrient industrialization has always progress alongside modernistic war . An regular army , as the saying goes , marches on its stomach , so the aerodynamic production , preservation and delivery of food for thought extend a definitive military advantage .
vaporize milkis a terrific example of a successful industrialized food product . It ’s essentially just Milk River dried into a library paste and , in the process , pasteurized . All you have to do is lend water and , behold , you ’ve got yourself some reconstitute milk . ( Condensed Milk River is roughly the same idea , only with a whole lot more sugar added . ) It ’s not perfect , but it get the job done , which is why the U.S. government purchaseda lotof condensed milk for Union Army field ration .
But great musical theme often lead to terrible single — in this case , the Essence of Coffee . food for thought engineer inquire , " Hey , if we can successfully vaporise a chalk of milk , then why not an entire cup of coffee berry ? "
This was no picayune matter . The Union Army thrived on coffee , as Jon Grinspan explained in his New York Times clause " How Coffee Fueled the Civil War . " It was their " face tonic " and sustainer . Gen. Benjamin Butler even considered it a decisive strategic factor , notes Grinspan . The modernization of coffee was nothing short of the modernization of the war effort itself .
And so George Hummel unleashed the Essence of Coffee on an unsuspecting public , disappear Brobdingnagian quantities of coffee tree — complete with Borden ’s condensed Milk River and sugar — into what is often described as a stocky , brown sludge or a noxious , disastrous grease . By all accounts , labor union soldier abhorred the stuff , and these were men who , according to Grinspan , would brew deep brown with water supply from " briny bays and Mississippi clay , liquid their horses would not booze " if that ’s what it took to focalise their nerves and mind on the whetstone of holy caffeine .
Despite the label ’s insistence that the product was " celebrated " and " more wholesome than pure coffee tree , " the Essence of Coffee test even the standards of these hardened soldiers . If that were n’t bad enough , the men ’s already first-rate - charged bowels were sometimes further cloud by bad milk betray by sketchy dairymen , harmonize towriter David A. Norris . So attempt to sheer the reconstituted heart with " refreshed " milk could prove a risky gamble .
The Essence of Coffee was soon removed as a ration , but its reputation lingered , grant to John D. Wright , author of " The Language of the Civil War . " In recent years , a few determined ( and potentially masochistic ) Civil War re - enactors haveattempted to recreate the stuffwith mixed results . While some lay claim to have improved on the recipe and concoct something " really quite good , " others report the creation of a tough taffy that must be expose up with a rifle behind on inhuman days before boil .
Can anything in force be enunciate for the Essence of Coffee ? According to historiographer James T. Hickey , first lady Mary Todd Lincoln may have incorporate the stuff into a high - caffeine , molasses - edulcorate concoction to handle her frequent migraines . Plus , Union soldier who could stomach the clobber doubtless incur their fix , a jolt of psychoactive stimulant that helped push them toward victory in the War Between the States .
So suppose about that the next clip your barista dish up you a less - than - perfectpumpkin spice soja latte . At least you ’re not forced to endure " the gist . "
