What does America drink?  I am sure many answers come to mind, as there are at least sixty to eighty thousand different beverages available in the United States today. What you may not be aware of is what drinks have been popular throughout our history, and what influences have shaped those drink choices. On the afternoon of March 26^th Andrew Smith, instructor in food history, food controversies and professional food writing at the New School University in New York City,  and author of  Drinking History: 15 Turning Points in the Making of American Beverage, discussed beverages in the United States, both in the past and today. He explained how influences such as ingredients, individuals, corporations, and historic events such as colonization, the American Revolution, the Whiskey Rebellion, the temperance movement, and Prohibition have affected what we drink.   In the beginning there was water.  The Native Americans drank it to survive, but they also preferred it in different flavors, so they spiced it up with syrup, barks, fruits, berries, leaves and roots ingredients readily available to them.  Some of the additives produced physical effects, and it was used in spiritual ceremonies and in healing.  When the Europeans arrived, they brought with them some of their traditions as well as their taste for other drinks, so tea, beer, ale, rum, and whiskey became part of the drinking landscape by the colonial era.  In time, wars, political events and social movements each played a part in the beverage selection.  Soda came about as an alternative to alcohol during the time of the temperance movement. While cocaine is no longer an ingredient in Coca Cola as it was then, soda is still popular, and is the number one beverage consumed in America today.