water vinegar mixture was sometimes mixed with herbs to make it more palatable, but it still remained an ‘acquired’ taste

Water, mixed with vinegar and a bit of molasses were a common drink in the American Revolutionary era, called ‘switchell’. Both vinegar and molasses were good sources of electrolytes — sort of a ‘sports drink’ — and vinegar has an antiseptic effect which was important as water supplies were potentially unhealthy, and may have been the reason the Romans were drinking it.

Give it a try. I prefer cider syrup to molasses, but it’s really good on a hot day when I’ve been sweating my brains out doing, well, whatever.