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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'."

28 of 258 comments (clear)

  1. "Grog" is now sold by it's commercial name: by pwnage · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Boonesfarm."

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    1. Re:"Grog" is now sold by it's commercial name: by gardyloo · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm sorry. You must refer to Boone's by the proper "Bitch Candy".

    2. 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.
  2. I dont geddit? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does it run linux or something?

  3. Arrrr! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Everyone know that grog be rum and water.

    1. Re:Arrrr! by erroneus · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah that be my larnin' as well. Avast ye blarney folk! A cocktail it may be, but grog it isn't!

    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:Arrrr! by StarvingSE · · Score: 3, Informative

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

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  4. Monkey Island TM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "What is in that grog stuff anyway?" Guybrush Threepwood

  5. I'm wondering... by demondawn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If the traces of apple and honey weren't actually from alcohols based on those particular ingredients (apple brandy or mead, for example.) Other than that, though, it is pretty amazing how much they can find out about the diets of ancient peoples using a combination of archaeology and chemistry.

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    1. Re:I'm wondering... by ergo98 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Other than that, though, it is pretty amazing...

      It's most amazing how conclusively these findings are presented. I guess it doesn't sound as interesting to say "The first cocktail appears to be 5,000 years old and made with these ingredients, based upon current archeological knowledge, which of course is almost certain to change as we uncover more information in the future".

      Perhaps I'm a cynic, but I've seen these sort of absolute statements proven wrong countless times.

  6. Wrong! Grog is made with rum by bubbaD · · Score: 3, Informative

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

    1. Re:Wrong! Grog is made with rum by BorgCopyeditor · · Score: 4, Funny
      n Sweden it's "Grogg", with two g's. It obviously comes from "Grog"

      Actually, the spelling with two g's is more correct. "Grogg" is just a wrapper. The full name, of course, is "Grogg Vorbis."

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  7. well in my expert opnion, by markass530 · · Score: 3, Funny

    you could only drink about 5 of these before ya started puking.. what kinda crap is that?

  8. Grog contains one or more of the following: by umofomia · · Score: 5, Funny
    "What is in that grog stuff anyway?" Guybrush Threepwood
    Grog contains one or more of the following:
    • kerosene
    • propylene glycol
    • sulphuric acid
    • artificial sweeteners
    • red dye no2
    • rum
    • acetone
    • battery acid
    • scumm
    • axle grease
    • and/or pepperoni
    1. Re:Grog contains one or more of the following: by imsabbel · · Score: 4, Informative

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

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  9. Newest Oldest by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Now that they've found evidence of the ingredients of a 5000 year old drink, what makes them so sure its the "first ever"? Of course that's what they thought the last one was, however old (<5000 years) it might have been. This kind of arrogance really makes people look stupid. How about just "first in history"? That description would tell us as much about the drink as it might hint at how limited is our knowledge of history. I'll drink to that.

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  10. 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)."

  11. Midas Touch by pancake_lover · · Score: 5, Informative

    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

    --
    Homer no function beer well without.
    1. Re:Midas Touch by Gruneun · · Score: 4, Funny

      Dr. Patrick McGovern of the Museum discovered that the residues inside the vessels belonged to a "Phrygian cocktail," which combined grape wine, barley beer and honey mead.

      I've read this before, but my first assumption would have been that the people also enjoyed wine, beer, and mead (or more likely, braggots and melomels), but used the same containers to make them and did a lousy job of washing them.

      It makes me wonder what future archaeologists will make of the stuff in my sink. "It looks as though these people drank a Mountain Dew, orange juice, beer, and chicken soup cocktail!"

  12. Re:Thanks Slashdot by Hannah+E.+Davis · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hey, the title of the site does not specify what kind of nerds it caters to -- sometimes us science/history nerds need news too. It's neat learning where things come from, whether those things are ancient cocktails or pieces of software.

    Plus the booze angle appeals to the average computer scientist/student :)

  13. Wrong moderation! It's a ref to Monkey Island by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.

  14. ancient beer/wine != modern beer/wine! by myowntrueself · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Those old beer and wine recipes are quite different from their modern counterparts.

    The main differences would probably be the lack of effective filtration and the yeasts.

    The filtration is probably the biggest difference.

    We are used to beer and wine being relatively clear; in ye olde days the beers and wines were rather murky.

    This has the interesting side effect that modern beers and wines are substantially less nutritious than their ancient counterparts.

    The Egyptian beer (which built the pyramids) has been described as 'mildly alcoholic, liquid bread'

    I've tried making wines and beers like these, they have a much lower alcohol content and are far more tasty.

    People also tend to turn their noses up at them cos they look cloudy and have bits floating around. More for me! Yum!

    And ahhh genuine Cornish scrumpy cider... even though I know they throw a dead rabbit into the vat, it still tastes good! :)

    --
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    1. Re:ancient beer/wine != modern beer/wine! by lawpoop · · Score: 3, Informative
      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.

      --
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    2. Re:ancient beer/wine != modern beer/wine! by Vellmont · · Score: 3, Interesting


      The main differences would probably be the lack of effective filtration and the yeasts.

      I'd agree that the yeasts were definitely different (the strains used today have been developed by selection by brewers over the last several hundred years). I wouldn't agree that one of the major differences in beer between today and the past was filtering. I'm a homebrewer and I never have filtered my beer. The difference is taste isn't really noticeable. Most beer that is is filtered is done so for cosmetic reasons (getting rid of haze), and also to get rid of any sediment on the bottom. Most strains of yeast have a fairly high "floctuation" (that is clump up together) and fall to the bottom of the tank, so they don't often tend to be hazy. It's possible that yeasts of old didn't have high floctuation, and thus beer had a more yeasty taste (think hefe-weizen, which means yeast wheat). The strain of yeast used to make hefe-weizen has low floctuation, and thus tends to be cloudy.

      The biggest difference between beers of old and modern beer is the addition of hops. Hops weren't even used in beer until somewhere around 700-800 AD. Until then there were using various other herbs added to beer to add flavor (and probbably preservative qualities) that hops provides. Hops didn't become widely popular in much of europe until somewhere after the 14th century.

      This has the interesting side effect that modern beers and wines are substantially less nutritious than their ancient counterparts.

      I guess I don't know why beer would be more nutrituous for lack of yeast (most of which settles out anyway). Anyway, many modern beers aren't filtered (maybe even most, but I really don't know that for sure). Guiness is one good example of an unfiltered beer.

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  15. bar code... by moviepig.com · · Score: 4, Funny
    The first cocktail ever was made in Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago...

    Supporting the finding was the nearby discovery of several small papyrus umbrellas...

    --
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  16. Okay, it's a slow day, but . . . by erikharrison · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Despite the total lack of useful information in this article, does it strike any one as odd that they did not consider the possibility that the same container was used to hold multiple things over time?

    It's not like they had industrial strength santizing dish washers 5000 years ago - over ten years of use, one could imagine an accumulation of residue inside such a container

  17. No it's not! by ergo98 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Science is authoritative...

    Science is authoritative when there is a strong confidence that the theory is correct (such that there is with gravity). Where there isn't that confidence, scientists regularly disclaim their statements, using terminology like "we believe...", or "it appears...". Few scientists immediately proclaim absolute based upon preliminary, or incomplete, information. "Bumble Bees can't fly! News at 11".

    This is especially true of archaeology, a field where it is pretty difficult to place vague things like "firsts". To claim a first for something as generalized as an alcoholic drink is pretty questionable. Of course archaeology, like all other fields, has people who want attention.