>>21527022 (OP)>egyptians drank warm, stale beer without hoppsI don't think hops really make it taste much better, but their beer was probably sweet and lightly carbonated from being fermented overnight. They would drink stronger beers that were aged more on special occasions but their daily beer was more like a sweet low alcohol beer. It probably tasted fine, I've made similar overnight fermented drinks and it's not bad at room temp. Beer needing to be ice cold is more of a modern thing and only really necessary with beer that doesn't taste great to begin with.
Aztecs thought that the chili added to cocoa made the psychoactive compounds get into your body faster and more potently. I never cared much for spiciness with things like that though even if I like it in other food.
Romans probably just knew it tasted sweet and liked that but weren't aware of the consequences. Just like kids eating lead paint chips in more recent times.
Some people used to drink reindeer piss after the reindeer ate some intoxicating mushrooms and filtered out the stuff that could kill you lol. And some people probably ate magic mushrooms that were growing out of cow poop.
