We as a people have been drinking for as long as before the first blackout, but I was wondering if before modern times whenever there was stronger liquor around if drinkers would use a "chaser" to lessen the harsh taste of the alcohol. A friend of mine believes this isn't the case, but I think he's wrong. So, what does history say?
Short answer, probaly not.
Wine and Beer was the alcoholic breavge of choice during Ancient times. Hard liqour and distillation is a fairly new invention. But Beer and Wine was pretty much a constant among all ancient civilizations.
Scholars believe that wine making began about 7000 years ago in Modern Iran. When the University of Pennsylvania was excavating at a Neolithic village they discovered six clay vessels that contained the remains of wine.
In Egypt they both brewed wine and beer, evidence of brewing begins around 3400 BCE. There are ruins in the city of Heirakonpolis which contain the remains of the worlds oldest brewery. It was capable of the producing three hundred gallons of beer per day. Wine and Beer was symbols in Egypt, there was even a god whose hieroglyph was a wine press. Finical records show that the builders of the Giza pyramid were given a daily ration of one and one third gallons beer a day.
The Greeks were well known for their consumption of wine. Dionysus, the wine god, had a cult where you were encouraged to get drunk because "it brought you closer to the god" Wine was so important to the Greeks that they called those who didn't drink wine "barbarians". Even though wine was important to the Greeks, drunkenness (besides the cult of Dionysus) was seen as unusual. Plato believed wine should be used for medical and recreational purpose he believed that moderation was key, and that no one under 18 should be allowed to drink it.
So chasers were probably not used in Ancient Civilizations.
edit: spelling