Colonial Drinking – 1776

Beer, cider, rum, wine, brandy and whiskey: Those were the main options to a group of people who craved their alcoholic beverages. And although they far out-drank us, largely because drinking beer or wine for dinner was much more preferred than the bacteria-strained water, they looked down upon people who acted drunk. The colonists held their own and in fact invited (expected) others to drink with them … but not act drunk. It wasn’t uncommon for visiting clergy to arrive back at their own homes “quietly” inebriated after church calls.

BEER: The Puritans loaded more beer than water onto the Mayflower. It was the standard beverage to have two or even three meals each day. With the influx of immigrants from England, Netherlands and Germany, interest in beer was inbred from the beginning. The colonists relied heavily on the assistance of Britain in the early days of local breweries. Gradually though, the U.S. became completely self-sufficient opening breweries in New England and Virginia. Many homes operated their own breweries. You can say that the more recent explosion of micro-breweries in this country truly mirrors an early American tradition. But one misconception was the so-called quote from Benjamin Franklin that “beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy” — Franklin liked an occasional beer, but preferred French wine. George Washington was a particular lover of beer, mostly dark porter.

RUM: Rum and rum punch was often served to voters in local Virginia elections as refreshment, a tactic later adopted by George Washington in an early Virginia campaign for a Frederick County seat in the House of Burgess. Washington also made sure that his army was well supplied with rum at all times. It was the molasses trade that fueled rum’s popularity as the distilled liquor of the day and later fueled a revolution. Its trade had the unfortunate distinction of benefiting from slave trade in a triangular deal that went like this: slaves were brought from Africa and traded to the West Indies for molasses; the molasses was sent to New England where it was made into rum; and the rum — 80% of New England’s exports — was then traded to Africa for more slaves. When Britain decided to tax the molasses being imported to the U.S. from French colonized islands, complaints of “no taxation without representation” began. So the revolution was really about rum, not tea (wink wink).

WINE: Thomas Jefferson was known to import large quantities of French wine. He regularly drank 3-4 glasses at dinner. When he tried to start his own vineyard neighboring Monticello, the crop failed miserably due to the bad climate and soil. Others, including Washington, also tried and failed using European vines. So wine (and brandy) was mostly enjoyed by those with the means to purchase imports.

WHISKEY: The immigration of the Scots and Irish in the early colonial days brought the knowledge of whiskey’s distillation. George Washington’s Scottish farm manager talked Washington into opening whiskey distilleries on his Mount Vernon land, which he did very successfully. Rye whiskey was largely responsible for Washington’s gathering of federal troops for the first time. As the rum industry faded after the war, whiskey picked up steam and headed west toward Kentucky. By the Civil War, whiskey was king.

FAVORITE DRINK OF THEIR DAY: Hot Ale Flip, “a blend of beer, rum, molasses (or dried pumpkin), and eggs or cream” *

Bar Exam Alcohol Quiz:

https://www.alcoholproblemsandsolutions.org/BarExam.php

*From Corin Hirsch at seriouseats.com: “5 Colonial-Era Drinks You Should Know”

Other Sources: “A Brief History of Rum” from Thecraftycask.com, “Spirits of Our Forefathers” by Tom Jewett from Varsitytutors.com, “The Revolution of American Drinking” by Christina Regelski from UShistoryscene.com, “The History of American Whiskey” from Americanwhiskeytrail.com, and “History — Early Years” from Jeffersonvineyards.com.