A Timeline of the History of Alcohol

Norwegian National Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research; and the Northern Committee for Alcohol Research, with membership from all the Scandinavian countries. The new excitement discernible in the late 20th and early 21st centuries concerning the study of problems related to alcohol consumption was stimulated mainly by consciousness of the human and economic costs of existing problems. Among other methods, preventive educational efforts in schools have not lived up to expectations. alcoholism treatment & alcohol rehab Taxation , and, within limits, price in relation to discretionary income is the most effective single way that society has to affect per capita consumption of alcohol. However, none of the common forms of governmental or religious control has proved itself able to promote temperance in those already alcoholic. Finland and several U.S. states—have sought to eliminate the private-profit motive from the sale of alcoholic beverages by reserving a monopoly in the trade to themselves.

After all, the Thames River of the time was as dangerous a source of drinking water as the polluted streams of ancient cultures. Dysentery, cholera and typhoid, all using filthy water as a vehicle, were major killers and would remain so in the West as recently as the end of the 19th century, rivaling plague in mass destruction. The caloric value of nonperishable alcoholic beverages may also have had a significant part in meeting the daily energy requirements of societies that might have faced food shortages. In addition, they provided essential micronutrients, such as vitamins and minerals.

• That alcoholic beverages should have displaced other fluids in early religions, both as offering and drink, is not surprising.
• Naturally, there was no South America, Mexico or Japan way back when, but you get the drift.
• Dysentery, cholera and typhoid, all using filthy water as a vehicle, were major killers and would remain so in the West as recently as the end of the 19th century, rivaling plague in mass destruction.
• Unlike the traditions in Europe and the Middle East, China abandoned the production of grape wine before the advent of writing and, under the Han, abandoned beer in favor of huangjiu and other forms of rice wine.

It was made and consumed by prehistoric societies in six of the seven continents , in a variety of forms based on a variety of natural sugars found in grains and fruits. Thin, gruel-like, alcoholic beverages have existed in traditional societies all across the African continent, created through the fermentation of sorghum, millet, bananas, or in modern times, maize or cassava. The latter, which was generally viewed as arising out of the increased self-indulgence of the time, was seen as a threat to spiritual salvation and societal well-being. Intoxication was also inconsistent with the emerging emphasis on rational mastery of self and world and on work and efficiency. Traditionally, beer had been the drink of the common folk, whereas wine was reserved for the more affluent. Grape wine, however, became available to the average Roman after a century of vineyard expansion that ended in about 30 B.C., a boom driven by greater profits for wine grapes compared with grain.

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About the next tenth of all adults average three or more drinks per day. Finally, the last 1 to 4 percent of the population averages 10 or more drinks per day. Almost all people being treated for alcoholism report drinking this much, although this level of consumption is not a hard and fast definition of the disorder. Part drink, part food, and part drug, alcoholic beverages are consumed for reasons as diverse as thirst, culinary custom, and addiction.

We continued to focus on the quality of our two mainstays — French wheat and water — while incorporating other natural flavours for a curated collection of delightful tastes. From its creation in the early eighth or ninth century, vodka steadily evolved from the initial rough spirit drunk purely for effect, towards a progressively more refined spirit. It was one of the first vodka cocktails that used a flavoured vodka, which helped drive flavoured vodka’s popularity, and it brought cocktails to a mass audience. Ketel One launched, using a copper pot still — a process typically used to make gin. It’s worth knowing that a copper pot still can only be used to re-distill a vodka.

But the alcoholism perspective lies at the heart of such organizations as Alcoholics Anonymous, and it provides the basis for many of the treatment programs that have arisen under medical auspices. In the 1600s, drunkenness became a widespread problem in England, with both beer and wine commonly abused. When religious groups fled to America in the next century, many formed temperance societies in the new country.

– 1997: Vodka Hits Its Stride

Thus a reading of .10 percent BAC means that there are .10 grams of pure alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood. Though originally focused on self-improvement and exhortation, some of these groups developed political aims and fought for legislation at federal, state, and local levels to stem the ravages of alcohol. Several waves of prohibitionist sentiment swept the country in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, culminating in a surge of political action in the first two decades of this century. By 1916, 23 states had passed prohibitionist laws of various kinds.

The liver metabolizes alcohol at an average rate of about one drink per hour, so that any drinking in excess of this rate will elevate the BAC. However, this clearance rate and other physiological characteristics vary greatly, making some people more sensitive to alcohol than others. Also, an individual’s responses can differ as a result of aging, illness, fatigue, or tolerance. Body weight, gender, the spacing of drinks, metabolic rates, how much food has been eaten, the drinker’s expectations, and even the expectations of others influence the degree of intoxication.

It has been said of distilled alcohol that “the sixteenth century created it; the seventeenth century consolidated it; the eighteenth popularized it.” Tiswin, or niwai is a mild, fermented, ceremonial beverage produced by various cultures living in the region encompassing the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Among the Apache, tiswin was made from maize, while the Tohono O’odham brewed tiswin using saguaro sap. The Tarahumara variety, called tesgüino, can be made from a variety of different ingredients. Recent archaeological evidence has also revealed the production of a similar maize-based intoxicant among the ancestors of the Pueblo peoples.

A Naturally Brilliant Future

This age witnessed unprecedented ostentation, gluttony, self-indulgence and inebriation. Europe, apparently relieved to have survived the pestilence of the 14th century, went on what might be described as a continentwide bender. Coffee, tea and cocoa thus began to break alcohol’s monopoly on safety. The traditional production of beer and wine by fermentation of cereals and grapes or other fruits produced beverages with low alcohol content compared with those familiar to present-day consumers.

By 1733, the London area alone produced 11 million gallons of gin. The poor in London found relief from the difficulties of urban poverty in the cheap liquor. Taxes on gin were soon increased financial assistance for substance abuse and drug rehab treatment to try to reduce to epidemic of drunkenness that followed. When Plato arrived on the scene, he advised that wine was beneficial to health and happiness, but only in moderation .

Experience showed that it was safer to drink alcohol than the typically polluted water in Europe. Alcohol was also an effective analgesic, provided energy necessary for hard work, and generally enhanced the quality of life. In spite of the ideal of moderation, consumption of alcohol was often high. In the 16th century, alcohol beverage consumption reached 100 liters per person per year in Valladolid, Spain, and Polish peasants consumed up to three liters of beer per day. In Coventry, England, the average amount of beer and ale consumed was about 17 pints per person per week, compared to about three pints today; nationwide, consumption was about one pint per day per capita.

Alcohol and society

Rather than castigating wine for its effects on sobriety, they considered it a gift from God, both for its medicinal qualities and for the tranquilizing characteristics that offered relief from pain and the anxiety of daily life. Evidence from archaeology and ancient literature suggests that for millennia, primitive, low-alcohol beers and wine were the preferred beverages—and common medicines—in regions where people alcoholic lung disease had the genetic ability to metabolize alcohol. All through Western history, the normal state of mind may have been one of inebriation. The per capita consumption of pure alcohol in the United States is about two and three-quarter gallons per year, which corresponds to just under an ounce a day, or close to two drinks. Of course, this overall figure disguises a wide variation in the drinking habits of individuals.

Bootlegging, moonshining, and speakeasies all thrived during Prohibition. Illegal marketers developed a strong black market in booze, especially with drinkers willing to pay three to four times the prewar prices for it. During the 150 years after the revolution, a quite different view of drinking took hold. Many people came to see alcohol as an addicting and even poisonous drug.

Ancient period

Given the prevalence and variety of drinking in America, it is not surprising that the link between drinking and the consequences of drinking is very complex. It is done at a certain time, in a certain place, often in the company of others, and in the context of profoundly intricate personal and social histories. All of these factors can influence what the consequences of drinking, whether positive or negative, will be. Alcohol is also an intoxicating drug that can induce physical addiction.

Alcohol today is a substance primarily of relaxation, celebration and, tragically, mass destruction. To consider it as having been a primary agent for the development of an entire culture may be jolting, even offensive to some. Any good physician, however, takes a history before attempting a cure.

Around the same time in Poland a drink known as Gorzalka, from the old Polish verbgorzeć, also meaning “to burn,” became popular. It was produced in freezing barrels and was a simple, rich, and toasty spirit distilled from grains, distilled entirely in a copper pot still. They were developed by making bitter wines and powerful beers, and letting them stand outside overnight in the harsh sub-zero degree winters of Eastern Europe.

History of Alcohol: A Timeline

Purposeful production of alcoholic drinks is common and often reflects cultural and religious peculiarities as much as geographical and sociological conditions. Hundreds of years before rum, tequila, whiskey or gin, there was vodka. This popular spiritlaid the path for other spirits and continues to lead the way today. From its humble origins to its naturally brilliant future, learn more about vodka over the centuries and how it has stood the test of time. The same complexities mark the link between alcohol and social relationships.

Among the 200,000 to 400,000 attempted suicides each year, alcohol problems are five times more common than in a comparable nonsuicidal group. There are certain negative consequences of drinking that do depend almost exclusively on the amount of alcohol consumed. An example is the disabling and potentially fatal liver disease known as cirrhosis. In this disease the cells of the liver are poisoned by excessive exposure to alcohol. Increasing numbers of these cells become inflamed and die, leaving useless scar tissue.