In my humble opinion,
It would be easier (more immersive) for the starting "nomadic" player to be able to quench his thirst without smelting up a glass bottle to drink from at first.
For example; crafting a piece of cobblestone into a scoop or water dish, if you will. It would be slow to quench the players thirst, and 100% guaranteed thirst debuff effect, but at least something to keep you alive until you decide to make glassware. Or maybe we could simply do this with a wooden bowl?

Just my .02

thanks for reading

Perhaps you'll be interested in the Slurp add-on. It might be not quite what you are looking for, but it's a similar concept.