They all hate the Puritans

So I'm reading this book on the Black hole of Calcutta by Jan Dalley when suddenly out of nowhere she decides that a snide remark about the Puritans would be in order. She says in parentheses

"puritans were allowed spices, while other stimulants were prohibited"

What she could possibly be talking about I don't know. I know the Puritans banned a lot of things but I have never heard of them being against alcohol, coffee, tea or any other such thing. It's just a snide remark, unmissed by the publisher because anti-puritanism is so common.