But they did have alcoholic beverages (in reference to which it is so often quoted). In those days, cocoa was actually in use in South America but not in making the modern chocolate concoctions so many are fond of.

A few hundred posts ago in this thread:

I've had an example amongst my own relatives to prove how well this doesn't always work. When given a bit of training, it can take a half dozen battered policemen to take in the teenage sot (under age but signed into the Marines by a parent who thought it might realign his character) that could probably been successfully taken in with no more than two.