Nice connections Julie. One thing I'd note is that your connection shows us people's complicated relation to their own culture.

What I mean is that people usually drink the common drink of their culture, for example Brits drink Tea. The drink itself then transmits the culture back to their own character. It begs the question of how much is our character influenced by our culture. We seem to be acting by the laws of our culture, for example westerners walk dressed while African tribesmen used to walk half dressed, and Scandinavian would sunbath semi-nude in the park, which wouldn't be done in the US. We similarly drink by the rules of our culture without even noticing it.

That is, when I drink Tea am I being British or am I being me? When I visit a new culture I always make sure to eat and drink their local drinks as it is an important part of infusing the culture, but we notice it less when it comes to our own culture. Would drinking Beer cause me to wear boots and be organized? What parts of our culture are we drinking when we are drinking our cultural drinks? (For example, no matter how much cappucino I'll drink it won't make me more aesthetically astute or religious, but it might pass on some other attributes of the Italian culture?)