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Interesting thought experiment that came up during dinner: How would things be different if alcohol wasn't miscible with water?
Mixology would be a lot more difficult. You'd need to start with making an emulsion -- lots of eggnogy drinks.
We would have had hard alcohol available since the neolithic. Which means access to a really good solvent and disinfectant.
There would be more whales around right now, as there never would have been a demand for whale oil.
Ethanol as a fuel would be a lot more practical, without the energy needed to distill the damned stuff. The entire 20th century would be radically different with far fewer petro-dollars distorting things.
Are we missing anything?
Mixology would be a lot more difficult. You'd need to start with making an emulsion -- lots of eggnogy drinks.
We would have had hard alcohol available since the neolithic. Which means access to a really good solvent and disinfectant.
There would be more whales around right now, as there never would have been a demand for whale oil.
Ethanol as a fuel would be a lot more practical, without the energy needed to distill the damned stuff. The entire 20th century would be radically different with far fewer petro-dollars distorting things.
Are we missing anything?
no subject
Drinking Beer in a Blissful Mood: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/427119
some of it is about the "we farm because of BOOZE because of the feasting hypothesis and all progress is down to showing off" but is more about the practicalities of early brewing and distilling.