Drink

The drink was porter. 'Porter is a style of beer in the ale family which has a dark colour. It was developed in the 18th century, originally from the use of highly dried brown malt, a roast malt aroma and hop bitterness. It is generally brewed with soft rather than hard water. Strong Porter was called "Stout Porter", which was later shortened to just "Stout". Guinness Extra Stout was originally called "Extra Superior Porter" and was only given the name Extra Stout in 1840.'

I just saw the movie for the first time in years. I was brought up drinking that with milk if I got a stomach ache, a cold coming, any ailment. I guess it was like cod liver oil. lol If we ever had stomach aches we were giving a mixture of Guinness Stout and milk and no more stomach ache. Or we had this drink called Malta with milk. But Malta was harder to find. West Indians use it a lot as a remedy and it works. I guess because I was a kid I got the milk mixed in. But now that I am a adult Stout alone works, lol I never thought of Guinness's as anything other then a remedy, like rum and tea and to this day I only have it if I get sick.
Elizabeth's father's family lived on the island of Jamaica for generations so I am sure that is a little inside reference to his upbringing

Very little potable water during those times, so people tended to avoid it since it was known to be impure and carry diseases.