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> Before people drank soda, they mostly drank beer (or other alcohol). Soda is the non-alcoholic replacement. Didn't people historically drink alcoholic bevera
by ValentineC 13y ago
> Before people drank soda, they mostly drank beer (or other alcohol). Soda is the non-alcoholic replacement.
Didn't people historically drink alcoholic beverages because of alcohol's antiseptic properties? (Oddly enough, I can't find much reference to this hypothesis in Wikipedia.)
Soda appears to fulfill the need for cold, sugary, flavoured drinks.
- sliverstorm 13y agoNot always. Beer back then was usually too weak to kill bacteria, but the brewing process involves boiling, and we now know what that does to bacteria! But yes, generally speaking alcoholic beverages were safer than water. I'm not saying that soda took the job of "drink that is safer than water". I'm merely pointing out that people did not migrate from water to soda. They went from beer to soda.