How were early distilled drinks consumed

[Ace_General]

So, today I met a friend had lunch, and then went to a bar and had a few drinks, and now Im home and drinking a few Gin and Juices while watching a basketball game and this question occured to me, how were early distilled drinks consumed?

Like I know pretty much for a fact that Vodka was done more or less straight, but for drinks such as gin or the like where they consumed as mixed drinks and cocktails or did people drink such beverages neat?

Like during the "Gin Craze" in England in the late 1600s and early 1700s did people just drink gin straight or mix it? What about other liquors on the continent?

And please forgive the grammar and writing of the present post as I am about 6 drinks in.

[conon394]

The poor in London were certainly not mixing their gin, it was cheap and and a cheap escape from life at the bottom. Although I suspect the cheapest available would likely be watered down or adulterated.

[Cyclops]

I recall from Early modern history that eau de vivre ( a white distilled spirit from France , essentially a poor man's brandy) was drunk straight, but was often kept in a "double flask" with water in the other compartment.

I've read Russia folk tales were vodka is drunk straight (usually shared with a stranger who turns out to be a great help later on) but the were recorded in the 20th century. I think the Irish monks who started using distilled ethanol for recreation instead of for creating perfumes drank it straight too.

I am told Scots Whisky was typically drunk with a bit of water (I like it that way myself). I think there's a lot of brandy and water and whisky and water drunk in Sir Walter Scott novels but I can't recall the exact citations. Simplicissimus is a 17th century satyrical novel about debauchery and misbehaviour and there's lots of beer and wine and straight brandy drunk.

[RedGuard]

I know for a fact in victorian era America (Missouri more specifically) Wine and Brandy was drank by the wealthy, water was for the servants. Only time a upper class citizen would be caught dead drinking water was when he was literally dying. The water was terrible in most places (independence MO being an exception because of the natural springs found there)