Exactly right! The soldiers usually had to resort to drinking water of rather uncertain quality and the vinegar took care of at least some of whatever lived in it.

I’m glad to hear you liked it btw! 🙂

Well, more or less all non-bullshit long distance runners I know swear that beer is the best post workout/recovery drink you can have. The non-alcoholic version works just as well. The reason would be in an ideal combination of water, simple sugars (maltose) and vitamins of the group B. The Tarahumara drink is just a kind of low-alco corn beer.

As for the Roman drink, there’s another good reason besides refreshment why soldiers drank water mixed with vinegar or wine while on the move. Alcohol and acetic acid are both disenfectants that kill pathogenic microorganisms (cholera etc). Actually, Caesar made it mandatory for soldiers to drink that during the Gaul campaign. The ratio should be a bit higher, though.

And yes, as weird as it may sound, the drink from the video tastes really good.

Hahaha, yes, ancient traditions always make for a good explanation, don’t they? 😉