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This chimpanzee stumbles 
across a windfall of overripe plums.

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Many of them have split open,

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drawing him 
to their intoxicating fruity odor.

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He gorges himself

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and begins to experience some… 
strange effects.

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This unwitting ape 
has stumbled on a process

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that humans will eventually harness

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to create 
beer, wine, and other alcoholic drinks.

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The sugars in overripe fruit 
attract microscopic organisms

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known as yeasts.

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As the yeasts feed on the fruit sugars 
they produce a compound called ethanol—

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the type of alcohol 
in alcoholic beverages.

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This process is called fermentation.

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Nobody knows exactly when

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humans began 
to create fermented beverages.

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The earliest known evidence 
comes from 7,000 BCE in China,

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where residue in clay pots

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has revealed that people 
were making an alcoholic beverage

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from fermented rice, millet, 
grapes, and honey.

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Within a few thousand years,

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cultures all over the world 
were fermenting their own drinks.

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Ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians 
made beer throughout the year

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from stored cereal grains.

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This beer 
was available to all social classes,

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and workers 
even received it in their daily rations.

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They also made wine,

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but because the climate 
wasn’t ideal for growing grapes,

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it was a rare and expensive delicacy.

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By contrast, in Greece and Rome, 
where grapes grew more easily,

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wine was as readily available 
as beer was in Egypt and Mesopotamia.

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Because yeasts 
will ferment basically any plant sugars,

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ancient peoples made alcohol

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from whatever crops and plants 
grew where they lived.

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In South America, 
people made chicha from grains,

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sometimes adding hallucinogenic herbs.

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In what’s now Mexico, 
pulque, made from cactus sap,

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was the drink of choice,

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while East Africans 
made banana and palm beer.

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And in the area that’s now Japan, 
people made sake from rice.

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Almost every region of the globe 
had its own fermented drinks.

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As alcohol consumption 
became part of everyday life,

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some authorities latched onto effects 
they perceived as positive—

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Greek physicians 
considered wine to be good for health,

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and poets 
testified to its creative qualities.

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Others were more concerned 
about alcohol’s potential for abuse.

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Greek philosophers promoted temperance.

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Early Jewish and Christian writers 
in Europe integrated wine into rituals

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but considered excessive intoxication 
a sin.

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And in the middle east, 
Africa, and Spain,

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an Islamic rule 
against praying while drunk

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gradually solidified 
into a general ban on alcohol.

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Ancient fermented beverages 
had relatively low alcohol content.

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At about 13% alcohol,

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the by-products wild yeasts 
generate during fermentation

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become toxic and kill them.

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When the yeasts die,

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fermentation stops 
and the alcohol content levels off.

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So for thousands of years, 
alcohol content was limited.

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That changed 
with the invention of a process

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called distillation.

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9th century Arabic writings 
describe boiling fermented liquids

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to vaporize the alcohol in them.

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Alcohol boils 
at a lower temperature than water,

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so it vaporizes first.

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Capture this vapor, cool it down, 
and what’s left is liquid alcohol

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much more concentrated 
than any fermented beverage.

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At first, these stronger spirits 
were used for medicinal purposes.

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Then, spirits became 
an important trade commodity

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because, unlike beer and wine, 
they didn’t spoil.

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Rum made from sugar

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harvested in European colonies 
in the Caribbean

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became a staple for sailors

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and was traded to North America.

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Europeans brought 
brandy and gin to Africa

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and traded it 
for enslaved people, land,

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and goods like palm oil and rubber.

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Spirits became 
a form of money in these regions.

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During the Age of Exploration,

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spirits played a crucial role 
in long distance sea voyages.

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Sailing from Europe to east Asia 
and the Americas could take months,

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and keeping water fresh 
for the crews was a challenge.

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Adding a bucket of brandy 
to a water barrel kept water fresh longer

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because alcohol is a preservative 
that kills harmful microbes.

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So by the 1600s,

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alcohol had gone from 
simply giving animals a buzz

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to fueling global trade and exploration— 
along with all their consequences.

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As time went on,

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its role in human society 
would only get more complicated.