Meadow Brook to host presentation on “Wonder Drugs: Coffee, Tea and Chocolate”

Join us February 27, for a presentation on “Wonder Drugs: Coffee, Tea and Chocolate” by DIA associate curator, Yao-Fen You

When coffee, tea and chocolate gained popularity in Europe during the seventeenth century, the brews of foreign beans and leaves were extoled for their miraculous health effects. They were classified at first not as food but as drugs, sold at apothecaries and prescribed by pharmacists and physicians. Medicinal claims for the new hot drinks ranged from aiding digestion and eliminating fatigue to curing leprosy and raising the dead—essentially curing whatever ailed you. Exhibition curator Yao-Fen You explores the miraculous properties assigned to the three beverages through the ages.

The lecture will be Monday, February 27 from 7-8 pm. Following the presentation guests can sample Ecuadorian Organic Drinking Chocolate and take a guided tour of the Wilson family’s collection of tea and coffee sets from around the world with Meadow Brook’s Director of Curatorial Services, Madelyn Rzadkowolski.

Admission is $15 per person or $13.50 for MBH members

Cookies and coffee will be served.

Reservations are required. Please call (248) 364-6252 to make a reservation.

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