Sources of Water in Cities
It is known that cities even constructed sources for pure water. In fact infrastructures were created to supply clean water to populated areas.

Rural Water Requiring Less Engineering
Where underground water existed naturally, wells provided pure drinking water.

Water in Colonial New England (3)

At the beginning of this post documentation of water history relates essentially to European geography and construction. On the other hand, footnote(3) hones in on the relationship of water and the North American city of Boston from 1650-1900. Activities started later in the colonies as well as less frequently. But the need was less urgent.

Preferred Palatable Beverages
But for pleasure, alternative drinking liquids were prefered. In fact, there were many options to choose from. Fermented beverages from distant and recent history are still popular today.

Food and Beverage Hobby As part of my interest in food and beverage history, I like to prepare and drink these beverages. They range from thousands of years old to much more recent concoctions.

Fermentation
Fermentation was the way liquids were converted into nutritious, tasty beverages. Due to chemical reactions with healthy bacteria, many beverages resulted. I would like to spend this blog post writing about some of them.

Honey Wine

“The term honey wine is sometimes used as a synonym for mead,[7][8] although wine is typically defined to be the product of fermented grapes or certain other fruits,[9] and some cultures have honey wines that are distinct from mead. The honey wine of Hungary, for example, is the fermentation” of honey-sweetened pomace of grapes or other fruits.[10]

More About Mead
“Mead was produced in ancient times throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia,[11][12][13][14] and has played an important role in the mythology of some peoples. In Norse mythology, for example, the Mead of Poetry, crafted from the blood of Kvasir (a wise being born from the mingled spittle of the Aesir and Vanir deities) would turn anyone who drank it into a poet or scholar.” Quoted from Wikipedia

 

Kombucha
“Kombucha is thought to have originated in China, where the drink is traditional.[3][4]

By the early 20th century it had spread to Russia, then other parts of Eastern Europe and Germany.[5] Kombucha is now homebrewed globally, and also bottled and sold commercially.[1] The global kombucha market was worth approximately US$1.7 billion as of 2019.[6]

SCOBY
“Kombucha is produced by symbiotic fermentation of sugared tea using a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) commonly called a “mother” or “mushroom”. The microbial populations in a SCOBY vary.

Yeast
The yeast component generally includes Saccharomyces cerevisiae, along with other species; the bacterial component almost always includes Gluconacetobacter xylinus to oxidize yeast-produced alcohols to acetic acid (and other acids).[7]

SCOBY Defined
Although the SCOBY is commonly called “tea fungus” or “mushroom”, it is actually “a symbiotic growth of acetic acid bacteria and osmophilic yeast species in a zoogleal mat [biofilm]”.[1] The living bacteria are said to be probiotic, one of the reasons for the popularity of the drink.[8][9]”Quoted from Wikipedia

SOURCES & RESOURCES

Mead

Kombucha

(1)Did People Drink Water in the Middle Ages?

(2)What Was the Drink of Choice in Medieval Europe?

(3)New England Water Supplies – A Brief History