Oldest alcoholic beverages found in China

[Fortuna_Wolf]

A little article from newscientist details how they've found pottery containing what is now the oldest known brew, made out of a mix of rice, honey, and a fruit; either grapes or hawthorn fruit. 7000 BC, beating the next oldest known find in Iran by 1600 years.

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996759

Not quite mead, but its something.

 

[Jmattioli]

Good Post Fortuna_Wolf.
I would call it Mead. Pyment with rice.
Joe

 

[Dan McFeeley]

Thanks for posting this -- really exciting stuff!

Here's another URL:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/12/07/MNGSCA7P7B1.DTL

I talked about the Jiahu material at the mead history seminar I gave at this year's meadfest in Boulder Colorado, but from the material Patrick McGovern had published prior to then along with a short e-mail conversation, he wasn't positive at that time that the waxy material he had identifed in the samples was actually beeswax. Because of that, I could only tell the audience that it was very possible that honey had been used in these ancient wines, but it wasn't certain. From these recent reports, it looks like McGovern is now confident in saying, yes, these samples showed the use of honey.

I'm really excited about this! The Jiahu samples are 9,000 years old, but they point to an already established practice of making wine.

 

[Oskaar]

This is great stuff! I love the fact that 7000 - 9000 years ago was focused on making a beverage to catch a buzz and have a good time. You gotta wonder when they started inventing bowling alleys so they could get out of the house and drink with their buddies

Oskaar