First Cocktail 5,000 Years Old

Praxiteles writes "The first cocktail was...grog?! From the article: 'The first cocktail ever was made in Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago, using wine, beer, apple juice and honey. Patrick McGovern defined the mix as "grog", an archaic drink that in the United States is sold as the Midas Touch'."

Comments

Arrrr!

[Anonymous Coward]

Everyone know that grog be rum and water.

Re:Arrrr!

[StarvingSE]

And everyone be drinkin' some grog on International Talk Like a Pirate Day
September 19th!!!!!!!!

Wrong! Grog is made with rum

[bubbaD]

Grog is an alcoholic beverage made with water and rum. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grog

Midas Touch

[pancake_lover]

Midas Touch is made by Dogfish Head brewery in Delaware. It's an interesting drink, hard to catagorize.

More info can be found on their web site:

http://www.dogfish.com/beer/midastouch.cfm

Wrong moderation! It's a ref to Monkey Island

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a reference to the list of how to make grog in the video game Monkey Island. While you don't have to mod it down mods cause it is funny I thought I'd point it out cause some of you are quick to mod things up without checking the validity.

Re:Grog contains one or more of the following:

[imsabbel]

Not to mention it eats through the mug in less than 30 seconds, so you need spare mugs to reach the prison :)

Re:ancient beer/wine != modern beer/wine!

[lawpoop]

Throughout various places in the Andes, indigenous people make a sort of 'drink' called chicha. It's made either of corn if you're in the mountains, or cassava root (aka manoic or plantain) if you're in the jungle area. Traditionally it fermentation was started by women chewing the plant material and spitting it into a big tub. Nowadays they use other methods. It is said that the Incan empire was literally built on chicha rations.

I was in a field school for a couple summers in Ecuador. The second summer, we stayed with and indigenous family in the jungle. They made manioc chicha, but pounded the roots with thick sticks, and started fermentation with a sweet potato. When ready, it has various textures, from liquid at the top, to thick at the bottom with manoic bits. The taste is stlighty sour, bitter, and pasty. Absolutely disgusting, in both taste and texture. At times I felt like I was drinking baby spit-up (it is whitish). It was all I could do to choke down the last bits at the bottom. I didn't want to seem like a weenie in the jungle.

However, there is a slight alcohol content, and while I didn't notice it, it is enough to start you up if you lack the gene that lets you metabolize alcohol like Native Americans do.