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First Cocktail 5,000 Years Old

Posted by Zonk on from the it's-got-a-little-bit-of-age-to-it dept.

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'."

3 of 258 comments (clear)

  1. Origins of colloquial "grog"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm not sure about other English speaking parts of the world, but Australians still refer to "grog" as a general term for alcoholic drinks.

    Interestingly, dictionary.com quotes its origins as such

    "After Old Grog, nickname of Edward Vernon (1684-1757), British admiral who ordered that diluted rum be served to his sailors, from grogram(from his habit of wearing a grogram cloak)."

  2. Re:Arrrr! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's true. Pirates used rum to keep stagnant water from making them sick.

  3. Re:"Grog" is now sold by it's commercial name: by 1u3hr · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Grog means Rum. This is beacuse Admiral Grog, of the (British) Royal Navy ordered that all British sailors be given a tot of rum every day.

    Grog is not (straight) rum, there was no Admiral Grog, and the sailors already drank rum, since the 17th C, and it became part of their official ration in 1731.

    "Old Grog" was the nickname of Admiral Vernon (1684-1757), from his grogram cloak, afterwards applied to the mixture he ordered to be served out to sailors instead of neat rum.

    By Vernon's time straight rum was commonly issued to sailors aboard ship - and drunkenness and lack of discipline were common problems. On August 21, 1740, Vernon issued an order that rum would thereafter be mixed with water. A quart of water was mixed with a half-pint of rum on deck and in the presence of the Lieutenant of the Watch. Sailors were given two servings a day; one between 10 and 12 AM and the other between 4 and 6 PM. To make it more palatable it was suggested sugar and lime be added. In 1756 the mixture of water and rum became part of the regulations, and the call to "Up Spirits" sounded aboard Royal Navy ships for more than two centuries thereafter.