What Did Pirates Drink? The Surprising Beverages of the Golden Age of Piracy
Did pirates really drink rum all day? Discover what sailors and pirates actually drank during the Golden Age of Piracy, including water, beer, wine, spruce beer, sassafras tea, chocolate, coffee, and more.
When someone mentions pirates, what’s the first drink that comes to mind?
If you’re like most people, it’s probably rum.
Movies, books, and television have painted a picture of pirates stumbling around with bottles in hand, shouting “Yo ho ho!” as they emptied another barrel of the Caribbean’s most famous spirit.
While rum certainly played an important role during the Golden Age of Piracy, it wasn’t the only thing sailors drank—not by a long shot.
Life aboard a sailing ship demanded practicality. Fresh water spoiled, voyages lasted for months, and crews often had to make do with whatever supplies they could carry or acquire in port. As a result, pirates drank a surprising variety of beverages, many of which have been largely forgotten today.
Let’s raise a mug and explore what really filled the cups of sailors during the Age of Sail.
Fresh Water: The Most Valuable Drink on Board
Ironically, the most important drink aboard every pirate ship wasn’t rum.
It was water.
Every voyage began with barrels of fresh water carefully loaded onto the ship. Unfortunately, keeping that water fresh was another matter entirely.
Stored in wooden casks, water often became stale after weeks at sea. Algae, bacteria, and tiny organisms could grow inside the barrels, giving the water an unpleasant taste and smell. Warm tropical temperatures only made matters worse.
Whenever pirates reached an island or friendly port, one of their first priorities was refilling their water casks with fresh supplies.
Without clean water, no voyage could continue for long.
Beer: The Everyday Drink
Long before bottled water became common, beer was often considered safer to drink than untreated water.
The brewing process killed many harmful microorganisms, making beer a reliable beverage throughout Europe.
Merchant ships and naval vessels frequently carried barrels of:
- Beer
- Ale
- Small beer
Small beer deserves special mention.
Despite its name, it wasn’t served in tiny mugs. Instead, it was a lightly alcoholic beer with a very low alcohol content. Families—including children—often drank it because it was considered safer than questionable water supplies.
Pirates visiting European ports would certainly have been familiar with it.
Wine Sailed the Seas Too
Wine was another common cargo crossing the Atlantic.
Merchant ships transported wines from Spain, Portugal, France, and Madeira throughout Europe and the Caribbean.
If pirates captured one of these vessels…
They probably enjoyed sampling the cargo.
Wine also stored reasonably well, making it a practical beverage during long voyages.
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Rum: The Drink That Became a Legend
No pirate beverage is more famous than rum.
Rum was produced from molasses, a thick syrup left over after refining sugar cane. Caribbean plantations generated enormous quantities of molasses, and distilleries transformed it into the spirit we still enjoy today.
Because sugar plantations dominated much of the Caribbean economy, rum became widely available throughout the region.
Pirates often encountered it in ports or aboard merchant ships carrying barrels destined for Europe.
While Hollywood often portrays pirates drinking rum constantly, the reality was likely more balanced. Rum was valuable, enjoyable, and easier to preserve than fresh water, but crews still depended on many other drinks to survive.
Grog: Stretching the Rum Supply
One of the most famous sailor drinks wasn’t pure rum at all.
It was grog.
Grog was made by mixing rum with water, and sometimes adding citrus juice or spices.
Although the British Royal Navy officially adopted grog in the 1740s—just after the Golden Age of Piracy—it reflects a practical maritime tradition: diluting spirits to make supplies last longer and improve the taste of stored water.
Many merchant sailors and seafarers were already mixing beverages in similar ways before grog became standardized.
Spruce Beer: A Forgotten Sailor’s Favorite
Here’s a pirate drink most people have never heard of.
Spruce beer.
Made by brewing young spruce tips or spruce essence, this refreshing drink became popular among sailors because it naturally contained vitamin C.
That mattered.
One of the greatest dangers at sea wasn’t enemy ships.
It was scurvy.
Without fresh fruits and vegetables, sailors developed vitamin C deficiency, leading to swollen gums, weakness, joint pain, and eventually death if left untreated.
Spruce beer wasn’t a cure-all, but many believed it helped keep crews healthier during long voyages.
Today it’s almost forgotten.
Three hundred years ago, it was an important part of life at sea.
Sassafras Tea: The Drink That Helped Inspire Root Beer
If pirates had wandered into an American colonial tavern, they might have been offered something surprisingly familiar.
Sassafras tea.
Long before modern root beer existed, people brewed drinks from sassafras root.
Europeans believed sassafras had medicinal qualities, and by the early 1600s it had become one of North America’s first major exports.
Merchant ships carried sacks of sassafras root across the Atlantic, making it a valuable cargo.
Pirates who captured merchant vessels sailing from the American colonies may well have stumbled across this aromatic root among the cargo.
Modern root beer didn’t appear until the 19th century, but many of its flavors trace their origins to these early herbal beverages.
So while pirates never enjoyed an ice-cold root beer float…
They probably recognized several of its ingredients.
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Coffee and Chocolate Were Luxury Drinks
Many people are surprised to learn that both coffee and chocolate were already popular during the Golden Age of Piracy.
Coffee
Coffee houses were booming throughout Europe by the late 1600s.
Ships transported coffee beans from Arabia and later the Caribbean.
A pirate lucky enough to capture such cargo might enjoy a rare taste of one of Europe’s newest favorite drinks.
Chocolate
Chocolate wasn’t eaten in candy bars.
Instead, cacao beans were ground into a rich drinking chocolate often mixed with sugar, cinnamon, or vanilla.
Originally enjoyed by the civilizations of Central America, drinking chocolate spread throughout Europe and became a luxury beverage for the wealthy.
Imagine discovering barrels of cacao aboard a Spanish merchant ship.
Now that would have been a sweet prize.
Herbal Drinks and Home Remedies
Sailors depended on nature for many of their remedies.
Various herbal infusions were brewed using ingredients such as:
- Ginger
- Mint
- Chamomile
- Wintergreen
- Birch bark
- Juniper berries
Some were enjoyed simply because they tasted good.
Others were believed to aid digestion, soothe stomach aches, or help sailors recover after long days of hard work.
Whether they actually worked is another story—but they remained popular for centuries.
Not Every Pirate Drank the Same Thing
One of the biggest misconceptions about pirates is that every crew lived exactly the same way.
The reality was far more diverse.
A pirate sailing near the Caribbean had access to different supplies than one operating off the coast of West Africa or North America.
The drinks available often depended on:
- Where they sailed
- Which ports they visited
- What cargo they captured
- The season
- Local customs
A voyage through the Caribbean might introduce sailors to fresh coconuts and tropical fruits, while a stop in New England could mean spruce beer or sassafras tea.
Pirates were practical.
If a drink was refreshing, nutritious, or profitable, they weren’t likely to turn it down.
Hollywood Got It Half Right
Rum deserves its place in pirate history.
It really was an important part of Caribbean life during the Golden Age of Piracy.
But it wasn’t the whole story.
Pirates also drank water, beer, ale, wine, herbal teas, spruce beer, coffee, chocolate, and a variety of local beverages depending on where they sailed.
Life at sea required flexibility.
Sometimes the best drink wasn’t the strongest.
It was simply the freshest.
Raise a Mug to History
The next time you enjoy a root beer, cup of coffee, mug of hot chocolate, or even a cold glass of water, remember that sailors of the Golden Age of Piracy appreciated simple drinks in much the same way we do today.
After weeks at sea, a mug of fresh spruce beer, a cup of sassafras tea, or even clean water drawn from a mountain spring could feel every bit as valuable as a chest of gold.
Sometimes, history reminds us that life’s greatest luxuries aren’t always the most expensive.
Sometimes they’re simply the most refreshing.
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