Database: Alcohol, a crucial resource

Drinking water was not necessarily safe in the Colonies, due to germs and other sanitary issues. This concern partly explains why people allegedly consumed 3 to 5 times more alcohol than the average American today! The most common beverages included beer, rum, whiskey or bourbon. Hard cider was a breakfast classic, including for kids. The Americans also enjoyed cocktails such as the popular and nutritive "flip", a mix of hot ale, rum or brandy, sugar, eggs and a spot of ground nutmeg. Several Founding Fathers of the United States such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams had close relationships with alcohol, being smugglers, wine-lovers or hard drinkers. Some even say that alcohol may have played a role in heating up the spirits for the Patriot cause. In any case, taverns, which were crucial gathering places, often turned into revolutionary headquarters.