As I understand it, safe water was historically a problem, which led to the prevalence of hot tea for drinking. I guess culture in Asia tended towards boiling

As I understand it, safe water was historically a problem, which led to the prevalence of hot tea for drinking. I guess culture in Asia tended towards boiling water, as opposed to Europe's tendency to ferment beverages to make them safer? I forget the source where I read this, but there were supposedly vendors who only sold hot water. Water is a really cheap commodity, so the currency reflected that. Those lightweight, fractional-cent coins with the holes in them were kept on a string by the water vendors to easily take/dispense for selling hot water. It's been years since I read this, so I may be totally off base with my recollection. But it makes sense given the problems associated with very dense populations and potable water in pre-industrial times.