Grog

Photo:  Creative Commons, 2.0 

Frequently in the various Lewis and Clark Expedition journals the word “grog” is used when referring to a beverage. But what was grog?

While it’s never explained by the writers, grog was typically a drink made from 50% water and 50% rum. This was likely how the Captains stretched the limited supplies of alcohol brought on the Expedition.

One specific day in late June 1805 during the portage around the Great Falls, Captain Clark wrote, “the wormest day we have had this year…I refresh the men with a drink of grog.”

The tradition of partaking in grog began with British sailors in the mid-18th century as a way of stretching the rum, and also as a technique of improving the taste of water stored aboard ships that often went rancid. The tradition of serving grog twice a day aboard ships of the Royal Navy was finally discontinued in 1970.