The earliest known evidence comes from 7,000 BCE in China, where residue in clay pots has revealed that people were making an alcoholic beverage from fermented rice, millet, grapes, and honey.
Chemical analyses recently confirmed that the earliest alcoholic beverage in the world was a mixed fermented drink of rice, honey, and hawthorn fruit and/or grape. The residues of the beverage, dated ca. 7000–6600 BCE, were recovered from early pottery from Jiahu, a Neolithic village in the Yellow River Valley.
The oldest booze dates to 7,000 BC, in China. Wine was fermented in the Caucasus in 6,000 BC; Sumerians brewed beer in 3,000 BC. In the Americas, Aztecs made pulque from the same agaves used today for tequila; Incas brewed chicha, a corn beer.
Professor McGovern explains: “The earliest chemically confirmed alcoholic beverage in the world was discovered at Jiahu in the Yellow River Valley of China (Henan province), ca. 7000-6600 B.C. (Early Neolithic Period).
Nine thousand years ago in Jiahu, Henan Province, people brew a drink from rice, honey, grapes and hawthorn fruit. It is the world's oldest known alcoholic beverage. The ancients drank to transcend their reality. Through alcohol they found a window into the spirit realm to commune with the gods and the dead.
Ancient China
The earliest evidence of wine was found in what is now China, where jars from Jiahu which date to about 7000 BC were discovered. This early rice wine was produced by fermenting rice, honey, and fruit.
Again, scientists suspect the pen-tailed treeshrew is very close to our early primate ancestors. This suggests that our ability to enjoy alcohols intoxicating effects came afterour desire to seek out and consume it. We started our relationship with alcohol because it made us less likely to starve to death.
Grape wine is the type favoured in most Western countries and archeological evidence has suggested that grape wine in China originated some 4,600 years ago, longer than the known history of rice wine.
Japan is a country of drinkers - and a few rituals should be considered before taking a tipple. Never pour a drink for yourself; your friend or host should do this for you and you in turn should keep your companions' glasses filled to the brim! A word you'll hear quite often is kanpai - "cheers" in Japanese.
“Tea was first drunk in China, Rajvir added” as far back as 2700 B.C.! In fact words such as tea, 'Chai' and 'Chini' are from Chinese. “Tea was first drunk in China, Rajvir added” as far back as 2700 B.C.! In fact words such as tea, 'Chai' and 'Chini' are from Chinese.
People typically drink alcohol to induce euphoria or reduce anxiety, and they frequently drink in social settings, yet the effect of alcohol on human brain circuits involved in reward and emotion has been explored only sparingly.
We're biologically adapted to moderate drinking: It kills harmful bacteria. If you were in a situation two million years ago where your life expectancy may only be 20 years, you'd look for anything that may extend it or keep disease to a minimum.
1 Noah The Drunkard
Here we have the 1st mention of alcohol in Scripture and it is presented in an unfavourable light.
There is perhaps no religion that loves alcohol as much as the Japanese Shinto religion, which reveres sake as the most sacred of drinks—the “liquor of the gods.” The god of sake is also the god of rice and the harvest, so drinking sake is associated with a bountiful and blessed harvest.
Poitín - 6th Century CE. Poitín, pronounced “put-cheen,” is an Irish concoction thought to be the oldest spirit in the world.
Bols has been extant since 1575, and claims to be the oldest distillery brand in the world. The brand is now distributed in 110 countries, and the liqueur line has over 30 different flavors. As the result of an earlier divestiture, in Eastern Europe the Bols brand is owned by Maspex.
Looking at the amount of alcohol consumed per person aged 15 years or older, the Seychelles is in first place with around 20.5 litres of alcohol drunk per person per year, according to Our World in Data; studies show that young male peer groups primarily drink high amounts of alcohol in the Seychelles.
Though many Japanese often won't heed a cry of “I've had enough”, I've found that most people will respect the wishes of someone who instead says “I do not drink.” In fact a large percentage of the population lack the enzymes to properly metabolize alcohol so cite this health problem if necessary.
1200–1046 before Christ (B.C.)], the earliest texts from China, at least three beverages were distinguished (3, 5, 6): chang (an herbal wine), li (probably a sweet, low-alcoholic rice or millet beverage), and jiu (a fully fermented and filtered rice or millet beverage or “wine,” with an alcoholic content of probably 10 ...
Current evidence suggests that wine originated in West Asia including Caucasus Mountains, Zagros Mountains, Euphrates River Valley, and Southeastern Anatolia. This area spans a large area that includes the modern day nations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, northern Iran, and eastern Turkey.
Which is exactly why the ancient Egyptians invented the wine label. From 1550 to 1070 BC Egypt dominated the wine trade. While wine did not originally exist in the region, it made its way to Egypt via trade, and the Egyptians wholeheartedly embraced and improved it.
“Our hunter-gatherer ancestors occasionally let their hair down when they were exposed to alcohol by eating fermented grapes,” Melissa Joulwan and Kellyann Petrucci write.
For as long as there have been humans, there have been humans getting drunk—or at least that's what biomolecular archaeologist and brew connoisseur Patrick McGovern thinks. The jack-of-all-trades researcher tackles the subject at length in his new book, Ancient Brews: Rediscovered and Recreated.
Swallow suspects that the key may have been milk's nutritional benefits, such as that it is rich in fat, protein, sugar and micronutrients like calcium and vitamin D. It is also a source of clean water.