> I think it is a bit more complicated than you make out. The popularity for millenia is really when the only competing beverage was water, and even clean water

> I think it is a bit more complicated than you make out. The popularity for millenia is really when the only competing beverage was water, and even clean water was hard to get until recently. Oh, come on. People like to get drunk. It's that simple. That "the only competing beverage was water" is some kind of argument ... get real. That's completely ridiculous. People REALLY REALLY like to get drunk. Water is no competition. Has nothing to do with what the drink tastes like.