Scientific dating places the production of alcohol, which originated in China in 7000 B.C., when farmers were concocting a brew of rice, grapes, hawthorn berries and honey in clay jars. Sipping rice wine is still popular among many today such as film star Robert Deniro.

Pharoahs were buried with miniature breweries for the afterlife, and in the poem Beowulf there is mention of mead, an alcoholic beverage made from honey, but evidence of alcohol’s consumption precedes the written word. Grapes were one of the earliest fruits to be domesticated, so it is no surprise that their fermentation was popular in Rome before the time of Jesus, and wine was a heavily exported commodity for centuries.

Germany, known for its beers, is home to the oldest continually operating brewery in the world: the Weihenstephan brewery, established in 1040 by Benedictine monks, whose Trappist beer, as it is called, is a popular drink today.

It is possible that our attraction to alcohol has genetic roots. The ethanol in rotting fruit appealed to our prehistoric ancestors for these reasons: it had a distinctive smell, it was easier to digest, it had antiseptic qualities. Alcoholic beverages have been invented independently on every continent save Antarctica and, lacking fruit, Central Asians fermented horse milk – tangy, but not exactly Bud Light.

Humans are adapted for consuming alcohol in moderation, and considering that many people don’t drink, when they get up in the morning, that is as good as they will feel all day!