The alcoholic drink most associated with pirates is rum. Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented molasses and its means of production are inexpensive.
Water often went bad (= andava male)onboard ships, because of bacteria, and seamen (not only pirates) added rum (a dram, a small amount) to kill the rancid taste. This was called grog. It should be noted that Royal Navy Rum was a high quality (= alta qualità).
Also ale was available(= disponibile), but like water it could go bad and it was impossible to drink.
Officers and substitute often drank Port wine, a French wine which had become popular among the English during the war with France. Port is a wine fortified (= reso più forte) by adding grape brandy during the fermentation process and so it is more stable (=stabile) during temperature changes.
Nota: Molasses derives from sugar cane. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for “honey”.
GROG
The word grog refers to a variety of alcoholic drinks . The word originally referred to a drink made with water or a weak beer and rum, introduced into the Royal Navy by British Vice Admiral Edward Vernon on 21 August 1740.
Modern versions of the drink are often made with hot or boiling water, and sometimes include lemon juice, lime juice, cinnamon (= cannella) or sugar to improve the taste.