“But, c’mon... people drink alcohol PRIMARILY for the buzz.”
Clearly we didn’t invent alcoholic beverages for the flavour. Yep, people drink for the buzz. They may pretend otherwise, they may even delude themselves about it, but that’s what I think.
Your thinking is in error. People may have discovered/popularized alcoholic beverages based on the biochemical effects, but most "drinking" in the ancient world was based on safety, not getting high. Water was deadly for most of human history, with wine being much safer to drink. Only since modern medicine has water been a staple of the masses. Even today, a beer is far safer in Mexico than the water...