Since humans learned how to intentionally ferment sugars into alcohol, the liquid, in its many forms, has been considered a medicine. The Sumerians used their beers and wines as medicine as early as 2000 BCE. The Egyptians did the same. So did the Chinese. So did the Greeks. Most medicines were created using wine or beer because the alcohol in the draught was vital in extracting medicinal compounds from herbs and fruits. Medical and nutritious, beer and wine in the ancient world furnished important vitamins and nutrients to their drinkers as well. The Bible even prescribes a drink of wine for a stomach ache: “Don’t drink only water. You ought to drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach because you are sick so often.” (1 Timothy 5:23)

Due to its esteemed position as a healing potion in the ancient world, alcohol was subject to intense interest by those who wanted to find medicines. Before modern medicine, alchemists were at the cutting edge of, what they considered to be, medicine production and research, creating new infusions and elixirs in pursuit of everlasting life. Eventually these men of mystery, mercury, and medicine discovered the process of distillation. Although the exact dates and origins are debated, there are some reports that Egyptians were distilling medicines and perfumes as early as 100 CE. Regardless of when it was first discovered, early knowledge of distillation was esoteric and passed between alchemists and among monasteries for the next millennium. Beer and wine were consumed by the public but distilled spirits were still largely unknown throughout the Dark Ages.

By the turn of the millennium, Arab alchemists like Avicenna had documented the process of distillation and had probably purified spirits, essential oils, and mercury. Within the next two centuries, Italian alchemists also began distilling and experimenting with strong spirits in their alchemical elixirs. These men invariably named their secret spirits with some reference to aqua vitae or the water of life; distillation was always pursued as a medicine if not as a magic. Thanks to these beliefs, it would take sickness for Europe to taste such an elixir. It was not until the Black Death ripped through Europe in the 14th century that the general public began to taste distilled liquors made as medicines.

Distillation progressed and spread throughout Europe in time for the outbreak of the bubonic plague. The strong spirits became a common prescription against the plague and many believed that increased drinking in general would ward off the deadly disease. In the centuries following the Black Death, doctors and alchemists persisted in the belief that distilled spirits were healthful and could treat plague. In 1631, one Italian doctor treating the plague prescribes “withholding wine from them and giving them instead distilled spirit mixed with water.” Even as late as 1667, a recipe for the medicine Plague Water called for infusing a strong spirit with sundry spices and strange substances. The thinking of Paracelsus, who would influence much of Renaissance medicine, encapsulates beliefs surrounding distilled spirits. He thought that God had given man all medicines, but only in crude forms which needed to undergo the process of distillation in order to purify and refine them. Eventually, the general public realized that these cures might not be as effective against the black death as they were led to believe. It took tens of millions of deaths and some more sober minds to realize this. Other more effective treatments emerged, but thanks to the plague, the public had had their first taste of these refined, potent spirits.