Richard Stanbery

We all know what things are desired in fine wines and spirits by todays standards. But what of historical apprecialtion for fine spirits? What was looked for as desired features in historical alcohol consumption in the centuries past?

What would a Roman or Sumerian or ancient Greek of Hebrew have desired in the alcohol of the time? Or the time of Chaucer? Henry VIII? Hengst and Horsa? Ghengis Khan?

Labienus

Nothing as good as some good ol' Roman lead wine

Richard Stanbery

I wonder if archeology has ever found a good enough sample of the remains of Roman wine to examine the lead content?

Salah

I recall reading that Israeli archaeologists have discovered myriad evidence for the consumption of beer in Old Testament-era Israel. Beer was also a favorite in Egypt.

Labienus

I think I have seen such evidence but I will have to find it. This Time article sums it well tho.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...#ixzz1IKlxNtjk

Belisarius

Romans thought Falernian wine, the epitome of fine drinking, along with many other wines you can find here:

Types of Ancient Wine

Greeks thought wines from Hios, Thassos and Lesvos to be the best. From what I can gather, the ancients seemed to prefer sweet white wines over dry reds, which is the complete opposite today.

oldenglishblog

Ancient Greeks drank their wine much sweeter and weaker (alcohol by volume) than we do today. Typically honey or certain types of resin were added to the wine pre-fermentation in order to sweeten them. [You can drink retsina even to this day, albeit that developed actually from the resin which was used to seal the amphorae]. This is known via examination of ancient Greek wine amphorae, which still bear the evidence of the materials used in the wine.

The Greeks would use κraters (κρατήρ) to mix the wine with water before drinking. The modern Greek dimotiki word for wine - κρασί - is derived from the krater vessel. To drink undiluted wine was considered extreme. Alexander the Great is known to have drunk his wine undiluted, hence his reputation as something of an alcoholic.

I wrote a paper on ancient Greek wine for one of my ancient Greek classes back in university, many years ago...

vera

Psalms 104:15: "יין ישמח לבב אנוש" - wine would make human hearts merry.

It is obligatory to drink 4 glasses of wine at Passover, and to drink at Purim "till not knowing". Grapes are one of the 7 major fruits of the land, the one which flows with milk and honey.

But also the darker side is shown. Ham, the son of Noah and the curse of Cana'an; Lot and his daughters; the sin of David and Bat-Sheva and other examples. There are warnings aplenty in the Tanakh against drunkenness.

The Talmud see him who becomes a drunk as going from the sheep to a roaring lion, then to a foolish monkey, and then to a pig rolling in the mud.

Chookie

Probably small beer unless at a festival (normally a Saints Day) then wine or mead.
Much the same as above but much more wine.
Whatever they could get their hands on (and whenever).
Fermented mares milk (kvass).

vera

Kumys, I think, was the word.