Grog – An alcoholic drink, usually rum diluted with water, but in this context you could use it to refer to any alcoholic beverage other than beer, and we aren't prepared to be picky about that, either. Call your beer grog if you want.
grog (see also spirits) An alcoholic liquor, especially rum diluted with water. Admiral Vernon is said to have been the first to dilute the rum of sailors (about 1745.)
Pirates called their special rum concoction, “Grog” and it involved mixing water, rum, and lime to help stave off scurvy and other diseases. Once the rum is distilled, it can be aged for up to 6 months. After that time period, the taste is even more smooth.
Back then, pirates had a choice of two types of drinking establishments: public houses (pubs) and taverns. A public house was, quite literally, a private house that was made public. At a time when brewing ale and beer was poorly regulated and untaxed, many people saved money by brewing their own.
Hardtack (or hard tack) is a type of dense biscuit or cracker made from flour, water, and sometimes salt. Hardtack is inexpensive and long-lasting. It is used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods, commonly during long sea voyages, land migrations, and military campaigns.
Grog is a term used for a variety of alcoholic beverages. The word originally referred to rum diluted with water (and later on long sea voyages, also added the juice of limes or lemons), which Edward Vernon introduced into the British naval squadron he commanded in the West Indies on 21 August 1740.
Rum was the preferred alcoholic drink of pirates, particularly favored by Captain Jack Sparrow.
Historically, grog was a drink that sailors made for long voyages. They made grog by combining rum and water. Sugarcane or honey added a sweet flavoring. Sometimes, the sailors added lemon or lime. In modern times, grog has expanded to many different varieties.
swipes (British, slang) wallop (British, slang) hop juice. amber fluid or nectar (Australian, informal) tinnie or tinny (Australian, slang)
But after the Civil War, beer started showing up in Western saloons and became very popular, as well. It had as many colorful monikers as whiskey: John Barleycorn, purge, hop juice, calobogus, wobbly pop, mancation, let's mosey, laughing water, mad dog, Jesus juice, pig's ear, strike-me-dead, even heavy wet.
According to most accounts, the principal beverage that pirates drank was rum, although ale (beer) was also served on most pirate ships. Ale was usually only available on shorter journeys or at the beginning of a long adventure because it would turn bad over time.
Rum, which was distilled from sugar, became a primary export. As a result, many of the ships on the waters that pirates attacked were filled with it. Crews tended to drink much of the liquid loot they found. However, rum was also used as a currency and often traded for goods.
In the early decades of the Australian colonies "grog" was often the only alcoholic beverage available to the working classes. Eventually in Australia the word "grog" came to be used as a slang term for any alcoholic beverage.
Season Four
John Silver and Flint share a drink of rum as they lead the Pirate Fleet in invading Nassau. Many pirates celebrate by drinking rum in the Tavern after they retake Nassau from the British.
Grog, Beer and Rum
Because of this, many seamen drank grog, beer or ale as opposed to water. Fresh water on board would often become tainted by green scum and slime, so a small amount of alcohol was often added in order to improve the bad taste of old water. This water and alcohol combination is better known as grog.
Water, rum, and lime was the pirate's well-known drink of choice. The navy also used this drink for their sailors, so the sailors would stay hydrated, and this was rationed to them only two times a day, but the pirates drank their drink of choice anytime they wanted.
In the film, main character Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) uses the question Savvy? to punctuate threats, jokes, and other swashbuckling statements. This savvy calls back to its roots for “do you understand?” with the sharp bark of a “Do you hear what I'm saying?”
Vikings used to brew both strong and weak beer and mead for different occasions. Weak beer was used as a water replacement to quench thirst and was deemed suitable for children, whereas the stronger brewed beverages were held in an adult-only space on the proverbial top shelf, reserved for special occasions.
Budge: liquor. Origin unknown, but in common use by the latter half of the 1800s. A related term, budgy, meant drunk.
A gallon of beer was the original rationed drink for sailors, but it too could spoil easily at sea. Around 1655, many ships switched over to rum rations instead. It didn't rot inside barrels and also didn't take up as much room as beer, freeing precious space for cargo.
Cackle fruit are chicken eggs, as far as your common pirate is concerned.
During the Age of Exploration, sailors, like pirates and explorers, would sometimes not see a dock for months. Without a refrigerator, they needed something to eat that would last for longer periods of time, so they made hard tack or ship's biscuits. Hardtack was baked on land and then stored on board the ship.
With the majority of colonialism occurring in Southern climates, Pirates spent much of their time attacking trade ships en route through warmer waters. And rum was their drink of choice. Originating in the Caribbean and made from fermented sugarcane, rum was a favorite among the bearded and hooked community.