The settlers lived in log cabins and slept on mud floors covered with bugs and animal skins. Travelers from back East reported that the conditions were horrendous even by 18th century standards. There was plenty of game and fish to provide sustenance, but no coffee, beer, tea, or sugar, not even much in the way of fruit or vegetables except for wild berries. Whiskey was the only luxury in life. It soon assumed the role that wine and beer play in European cultures.
Housewives put jugs of it on the table where it was consumed with meals.
Shop keepers gave it away to customers. Whiskey drinking became the only social diversion. But it was even more than that. Farming was much more difficult than it was back east, and almost a waste of time. There was very little hard currency in the area, so very few people were in a position to buy anything.