Coffee as a tool of persuasion

Research coming out of Queensland University of Technology (as reported on ABC News Online HERE) suggests you are more likely to come over to my way of thinking if I foist coffee on you while trying to persuade you. Yes, apparently "caffeine increases persuasion through instigating systematic processing of the message", so next time I offer you a special blend doppio ristretto piccolo latte you'd better check the accompanying patter isn't something like: "Look into my eyes, look into my eyes . . . Not around the eyes . . . The eyes . . . The eyes . . . "

Photo credit: Caroline B

In Coffee/Dung News . . .

David Sharrock - Ireland correspondent for The Times - reports that for the first time in 288 years coffee dealers in that country will once again be able to legally sell coffee mixed with sheep dung as a filler:

WITH the stroke of a legislative pen, the Irish Republic intends to shrug off centuries of colonial rule when it abolishes thousands of bizarre laws dating back to the first English invasion. . . . Among those laws about to be consigned to history is . . . the Adulteration Of Coffee Act 1718 (which) made it illegal to debase coffee for profit. Among the substances used by unscrupulous traders to “pad out” the sacks of coffee was ground-up sheep dung. As coffee went out of fashion, a similar law was introduced covering tea — the Adulteration of Tea Act 1776 . . .

Read the full article from timesonline.co.uk