{"id":8944,"date":"2012-02-11T00:01:09","date_gmt":"2012-02-11T08:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=8944"},"modified":"2013-09-11T22:02:01","modified_gmt":"2013-09-12T05:02:01","slug":"what-grog-was-originally-made-from","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2012\/02\/what-grog-was-originally-made-from\/","title":{"rendered":"What Grog was Originally Made From"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Today I found out<\/a> what grog was originally made from.<\/p>\n

Although today the word “grog” has more or less turned into a slang term to refer to just about any alcoholic beverage in many parts of the world, particularly in Australia and New Zealand, grog was originally just a mixture of rum with water, sometimes with a bit of lemon or lime added to sweeten it.<\/p>\n

Grog was invented by sailors in the British Navy a few centuries ago.\u00a0 Freshwater aboard sailing ships tended to become slimy with algae and other microbes growing in it.\u00a0 This made the water quite unpalatable.\u00a0 To try to get around this, sailors were issued rations of beer or wine to mix with the water to improve the taste.\u00a0 However, this proved to be impractical on long voyages as it took a significant amount of beer and wine, which had to be stored aboard the ship.\u00a0 Around the 17th and 18th centuries, rum began becoming very popular and it was soon common to substitute rum for the beer or wine ration.\u00a0 Rum is much stronger than beer or wine, particularly then, and so a smaller amount could be given (often around a half a pint per sailor per day).\u00a0 This change (allowing for a substitute of a half pint of rum instead of the normal one gallon of beer per day) was officially made in 1731 when it was added to the Regulations and Instructions Relating to His Majesty’s Service at Sea.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, because the rum was so much stronger, the sailors tended to get pretty drunk from it, particularly when they’d choose\u00a0 save up their rum rations and drink it straight, rather than mix it with water.\u00a0 This caused problems aboard the ships, as one might expect.\u00a0 In order to solve this problem, British Vice Admiral Edward Vernon began requiring that the rum be mixed with the water before giving it out to the sailors as part of their rations.\u00a0 This order originally went out on August 21, 1740 with the precise mixture being two quarts of water with one pint of rum.\u00a0 This was to be mixed and distributed twice daily under the close scrutiny of the Lieutenant of the Watch.<\/p>\n

Other commanders used different ratios, but the general idea of mixing the rum with the water before distributing it to the sailors caught on throughout the Royal Navy and became the official standard practice in 1756.<\/p>\n

Admiral Vernon also added lime to the mixture to sweeten it, something which wasn’t initially adopted on all navy ships.\u00a0 However, soon after James Lind proved that scurvy could be prevented simply by giving sailors citrus fruit in 1747, the practice of adding lime or lemon juice to the mixture became popular throughout the Royal Navy.<\/p>\n

The name “grog” is thought to be named after Vice Admiral Vernon.\u00a0 The Admiral’s nickname was “Old Grog” due to the grogram cloak he wore.\u00a0 Grogram was just a course fabric, usually made from a blend of wool, silk, and mohair, and tended to be stiffened and made waterproof with gum.<\/p>\n

Another famous thing named after Admiral Vernon, this time directly rather than through a nickname, is Mount Vernon, President George Washington’s estate.\u00a0 George Washington had a half brother, Lawrence Washington, that served under Admiral Vernon.\u00a0 When Augustine Washington, their father, died, Lawrence Washington inherited the estate and change the name to Mount Vernon, from the original name of Little Hunting Creek, as it had been called while Augustine Washington lived there.\u00a0 George Washington later inherited the estate and chose to keep the name.<\/p>\n

If you liked this article, you might also enjoy our new popular podcast, The BrainFood Show (iTunes<\/a>, Spotify<\/a>, Google Play Music<\/a>, Feed<\/a>), as well as:<\/p>\n