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80-420: Mead ( / m iː d / ), also called honey wine , and hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits , spices , grains , or hops . The alcoholic content ranges from about 3.5% ABV to more than 20%. Possibly the most ancient alcoholic drink, the defining characteristic of mead
160-500: A brandy or liqueur strength, in which case it is sometimes referred to as a whiskey . A version called "honey jack" can be made by partly freezing a quantity of mead and straining the ice out of the liquid (a process known as freeze distillation ), in the same way that applejack is made from cider . In Finland , a sweet mead called sima is connected with the Finnish vappu festival (although in modern practice, brown sugar
240-630: A minuta equal to 1 ⁄ 60 of a day (24 modern minutes), a secunda equal to 1 ⁄ 3600 of a day (24 modern seconds), and a tertia equal to 1 ⁄ 216,000 of a day (0.4 modern seconds). A number of special symbols for Roman currency were added to the Unicode Standard version 5.1 (April 2008) as the Ancient Symbols block (U+10190–U+101CF, in the Supplementary Multilingual Plane ). As mentioned above,
320-513: A contemporary of Taliesin. In the Old English epic poem Beowulf , the Danish warriors drank mead. In both Insular Celtic and Germanic poetry, mead was the primary heroic or divine drink, see Mead of poetry . Mead ( Old Irish mid ) was a popular drink in medieval Ireland . Beekeeping was brought around the 5th century, traditionally attributed to Modomnoc , and mead came with it. A banquet hall on
400-552: A grain and honey drink similar to mead that he encountered while travelling in Thule . According to James Henry Ramsay this was an earlier version of Welsh metheglin . When 12-year-old Prince Charles II visited Wales in 1642 Welsh metheglin was served at the feast as a symbol of Welsh presence in the emerging British identity in the years between the Union of the Crowns in 1603 and the creation of
480-455: A recipe for mead in De re rustica , about 60 CE. Take rainwater kept for several years, and mix a sextarius of this water with a [Roman] pound of honey. For a weaker mead, mix a sextarius of water with nine ounces of honey. The whole is exposed to the sun for 40 days and then left on a shelf near the fire. If you have no rain water, then boil spring water. Ancient Greek writer Pytheas described
560-541: A result, it is hard to pinpoint the exact historical origin of mead given the possibility of multiple discovery or potential knowledge transfer between early humans prior to recorded history. With the eventual rise of ceramic pottery and increasing use of fermentation in food processing to preserve surplus agricultural crops, evidence of mead begins to show up in the archaeological record more clearly, with pottery vessels from northern China dating from at least 7000 BCE discovered containing chemical signatures consistent with
640-575: A thousand years. In the United States, mead is enjoying a resurgence, starting with small home meaderies and now with a number of small commercial meaderies . As mead becomes more widely available, it is seeing increased attention and exposure from the news media. This resurgence can also been seen around the world in the UK and Australia particularly with session (lower alcohol styles) sometimes called hydromel and Mead-Beer Hybrids also known as Braggots. In
720-478: A wine last longer, so they play an important role in the aging of wine . The average number of people who drink as of 2016 was 39% for males and 25% for females (2.4 billion people in total). Females on average drink 0.7 drinks per day while males drink 1.7 drinks per day. The rates of drinking varies significantly in different areas of the world. Alcohol is used in rum-running , the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation
800-511: Is exclusively fermented with white sugar , yeast , and water. Fermented water is clarified after the fermentation to produce a colorless or off-white liquid with no discernible taste other than that of ethanol . Mead ( / m iː d / ), also called hydromel, is an alcoholic drink made by fermenting honey with water, sometimes with various fruits , spices , grains , or hops . The alcoholic content of mead may range from as low as 3% ABV to more than 20%. The defining characteristic of mead
880-445: Is a beverage containing alcohol (ethanol) . Alcoholic drinks are typically divided into three classes— beers , wines , and spirits —and typically their alcohol content is between 3% and 50%. Many cultures have a distinct drinking culture , where alcoholic drinks are integrated into parties . Most countries have laws regulating the production, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. For example, some regulations may require
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#1732851687521960-410: Is a depressant , which in low doses causes euphoria , reduces anxiety , and increases sociability. In higher doses, it causes drunkenness , stupor , unconsciousness , or death . Long-term use can lead to an alcohol use disorder , an increased risk of developing several types of cancer , cardiovascular disease , and physical dependence . Alcohol is classified as a group 1 carcinogen . In 2023,
1040-804: Is a fermented beverage most commonly produced from grapes . Wine involves a longer fermentation process than beer and often a long aging process (months or years), resulting in an alcohol content of 9%–16% ABV . Sparkling wines such French Champagne , Catalan Cava or Italian Prosecco are also made from grapes, with a secondary fermentation . Fruit wines are made from fruits other than grapes , such as plums , cherries , or apples . Distilled beverages (also called liquors or spirit drinks) are alcoholic drinks produced by distilling (i.e., concentrating by distillation ) ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables. Unsweetened, distilled, alcoholic drinks that have an alcohol content of at least 20% ABV are called spirits . For
1120-407: Is a large pub that specializes in beer . A cider house is an establishment that sells alcoholic cider for consumption on the premises. Some cider houses also sell cider "to go", for consumption off the premises. A traditional cider house was often little more than a room in a farmhouse or cottage , selling locally fermented cider. An ouzeri ( Greek ουζερί IPA: [uzeˈri] )
1200-494: Is a term used in the United States to describe an improvised alcoholic beverage . It is variously made from apples , oranges , fruit cocktail , fruit juices , hard candy , sugar , high fructose syrup , and possibly other ingredients, including crumbled bread . Drinking games are games which involve the consumption of alcoholic beverages and often enduring the subsequent intoxication resulting from them. Evidence of
1280-573: Is a type of Greek tavern which serves ouzo (a Greek liquor) and mezedes (small finger foods ). Pulquerías (or pulcherías) are a type of tavern in Mexico that specialize in serving an alcoholic beverage known as pulque . A tiki bar is a themed drinking establishment that serves elaborate cocktails, especially rum -based mixed drinks such as the Mai Tai and Zombie cocktails. Tiki bars are aesthetically defined by their tiki culture décor which
1360-489: Is an unlicensed hotel , liquor-store or other vendor of alcoholic beverages, sometimes with the added connotation of selling poor-quality products. A straw purchaser may receive money or recompense from the underage person in exchange for purchasing the alcohol on their behalf. Alcohol has been used as a currency for transactional sex in South Africa, and Uganda. Pruno also known as prison hooch or prison wine,
1440-500: Is based upon a romanticized conception of tropical cultures, most commonly Polynesian . Ancient Roman units of measurement The units of measurement of ancient Rome were generally consistent and well documented. The basic unit of Roman linear measurement was the pes (plural: pedes ) or Roman foot . Investigation of its relation to the English foot goes back at least to 1647, when John Greaves published his Discourse on
1520-401: Is called a melomel , which was also used as a means of food preservation , keeping summer produce for the winter. A mead that is fermented with grape juice is called a pyment . Mulled mead is a popular drink at Christmas time, where mead is flavored with spices (and sometimes various fruits) and warmed, traditionally by having a hot poker plunged into it. Some meads retain some measure of
1600-411: Is forbidden by law. Wine fraud relates to the commercial aspects of wine. The most prevalent type of fraud is one where wines are adulterated, usually with the addition of cheaper products (e.g. juices) and sometimes with harmful chemicals and sweeteners (compensating for color or flavor). Moonshine is illegal to produce and sell in most countries. In Australia, a sly-grog shop (or shanty)
1680-428: Is leaving the mead in a cold environment overnight, or using a fining material, such as sparkolloid, bentonite, egg white, or isinglass. If the mead-maker wishes to backsweeten the product (add supplementary sweetener) or prevent it from oxidizing, potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate are added. After the mead clears, it is bottled and distributed. Primary fermentation usually takes 28 to 56 days, after which
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#17328516875211760-553: Is often used for medicinal purposes . It may be a grain spirit, or it may be made from other plants. It is used in mixed drinks , liqueurs , and tinctures , and also as a household solvent . In the alcoholic drinks industry, congeners are substances produced during fermentation . These substances include small amounts of chemicals such as occasionally desired alcohols, like propanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol , as well as compounds that are never desired such as acetone , acetaldehyde and glycols . Congeners are responsible for most of
1840-404: Is often used in place of honey ). During secondary fermentation , added- raisins augment the amount of sugar available to the yeast and indicate readiness for consumption, rising to the top of the bottle when sufficiently depleted. Sima is commonly served with both the pulp and rind of a lemon . An Ethiopian mead variant tej (ጠጅ, [ˈtʼədʒ] ) is usually home-made and flavored with
1920-431: Is sometimes used as a synonym for mead, although wine is typically defined to be the product of fermented grapes or certain other fruits, and some cultures have honey wines that are distinct from mead. The honey wine of Hungary , for example, is the fermentation of honey-sweetened pomace of grapes or other fruits. Mead was produced in ancient times throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia, and has played an important role in
2000-406: Is that the majority of the beverage's fermentable sugar is derived from honey. It may be still, carbonated, or naturally sparkling, and despite a common misconception that mead is exclusively sweet, it can also be dry or semi-sweet. Mead that also contains spices is called metheglin ( / m ɪ ˈ θ ɛ ɡ l ɪ n / ), and mead that contains fruit is called melomel . The term honey wine
2080-642: Is that the majority of the drink's fermentable sugar is derived from honey. Mead can also be referred to as "honeywine." Pulque is the Mesoamerican fermented drink made from the "honey water" of maguey , Agave americana . Pulque can be distilled to produce tequila or Mezcal . Rice wine is an alcoholic drink fermented and possibly distilled from rice , consumed in East Asia , Southeast Asia and South Asia . Sake , huangjiu , mijiu , and cheongju are popular examples of East Asian rice wine . Wine
2160-443: Is wine that has had a spirit added to it. Many different styles of fortified wine have been developed, including port , sherry, madeira , marsala , commandaria , and the aromatized wine vermouth . Rectified spirit , also called "neutral grain spirit", is alcohol which has been purified by means of "rectification" (i.e. repeated distillation). The term neutral refers to the spirit's lack of flavor that would have been present if
2240-400: The nundinae , with every eighth day being a market day. Independent of the nundinae , astrologers kept a seven-day cycle called a hebdomas where each day corresponded to one of the seven classical planets , with the first day of the week being Saturn-day , followed by Sun-day , Moon-day , Mars-day , Mercury-day , Jupiter-day , and lastly Venus-day . Each astrological day
2320-523: The Great Rebellion . The alcohol monopoly system has a long history in various countries, often implemented to limit the availability and consumption of alcohol for public health and social welfare reasons. The alcohol monopoly was created in the Swedish town of Falun in 1850, to prevent overconsumption and reduce the profit motive for sales of alcohol. It later went all over the country in 1905 when
2400-519: The Hill of Tara was known as Tech Mid Chuarda ("house of the circling of mead"). Mead was often infused with hazelnuts . Many other legends of saints mention mead, as does that of the Children of Lir . Later, mead was increasingly displaced by other alcoholic beverages for which the fermentable sugars required were less expensive and more readily available, which combined with taxation and regulations governing
2480-607: The Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. There is a poem attributed to the Welsh bard Taliesin , who lived around 550 CE, called the Kanu y med or "Song of Mead" (Cân y medd). The legendary drinking, feasting, and boasting of warriors in the mead hall is echoed in the mead hall Din Eidyn (modern-day Edinburgh ) as depicted in the poem Y Gododdin , attributed to the poet Aneirin who would have been
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2560-514: The Philippines , local mead makers are also putting mead back into the radar of liquor and alcohol aficionados. In fact, to promote mead in the country, the Philippines had its first International Mead Day celebration for the first time ever on August 3, 2024. Alcoholic drink An alcoholic beverage (also called an adult beverage , alcoholic drink , strong drink , or simply a drink )
2640-763: The Swedish parliament ordered all sales of vodka to be done via local alcohol monopolies. In 1894, the Russian Empire established a state monopoly on vodka, which became a major source of revenue for the Russian government. Later in the nineteenth century opposition to alcohol grew in the form of the temperance movement , in the United States , United Kingdom , Canada , Scandinavia and India , and it eventually led to national prohibitions in Canada (1918 to 1920), Norway (spirits only from 1919 to 1926 ), Finland (1919 to 1932), and
2720-834: The Western Steppe or Eastern Europe . The Abri , a northern subgroup of the Taulantii , were known to the ancient Greek writers for their technique of preparing mead from honey . During the Golden Age of ancient Greece , mead was said to be the preferred drink. Aristotle (384–322 BCE) discussed mead made in Illiria in his Meteorologica and elsewhere, while Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE) called mead militites in his Naturalis Historia and differentiated wine sweetened with honey or "honey-wine" from mead. The Hispanic-Roman naturalist Columella gave
2800-439: The congeners . Freeze distillation concentrates ethanol along with methanol and fusel alcohols (fermentation by-products partially removed by distillation) in applejack . Fortified wine is wine, such as port or sherry , to which a distilled beverage (usually brandy ) has been added. Fortified wine is distinguished from spirits made from wine in that spirits are produced by means of distillation , while fortified wine
2880-411: The must is placed in a secondary fermentation vessel for 6 to 9 months of aging . Durations of primary and secondary fermentation producing satisfactory mead may vary considerably according to numerous factors, such as floral origin of the honey and its natural sugar and microorganism contents, must water percentage, pH , additives used, and strain of yeast, among others. Although supplementation of
2960-506: The pes Drusianus (about 333 or 335 mm) sometimes used in some provinces, particularly Germania Inferior . The Roman foot was sub-divided either like the Greek pous into 16 digiti or fingers; or into 12 unciae or inches. Frontinus writes in the 1st century AD that the digitus was used in Campania and most parts of Italy. The principal Roman units of length were: Other units include
3040-518: The porca of 180 × 30 Roman feet (about 473 m or 5,090 sq ft) used in Hispania Baetica and the Gallic candetum or cadetum of 100 feet in the city or 150 in the country. Columella also gives uncial divisions of the jugerum , tabulated by the anonymous translator of the 1745 Millar edition as follows: Both liquid and dry volume measurements were based on the sextarius. The sextarius
3120-688: The schoenus (from the Greek for " rush rope") used for the distances in Isidore of Charax 's Parthian Stations (where it had a value around 5 km or 3 miles) and in the name of the Nubian land of Triacontaschoenus between the First and Second Cataracts on the Nile (where it had a value closer to 10.5 km or 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles). The ordinary units of measurement of area were: Other units of area described by Columella in his De Re Rustica include
3200-424: The yeast employed during fermentation , and the aging procedure. Some producers have erroneously marketed white wine sweetened and flavored with honey after fermentation as mead, sometimes spelling it "meade." Some producers ferment a blend of honey and other sugars, such as white refined sugar, again, mislabeling the product as mead. This is closer in style to a hypocras . Blended varieties of mead may be known by
3280-615: The Encouraging of the Distillation of Brandy and Spirits from Corn" Alcoholic beverages played an important role in the Thirteen Colonies from their early days when drinking wine and beer at that time was safer than drinking water – which was usually taken from sources also used to dispose of sewage and garbage. Drinking hard liquor was common occurrence in early nineteenth-century United States. The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as
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3360-520: The Romane foot . Greaves visited Rome in 1639, and measured, among other things, the foot measure on the tomb of Titus Statilius Aper, that on the statue of Cossutius formerly in the gardens of Angelo Colocci , the congius of Vespasian previously measured by Villalpandus , a number of brass measuring-rods found in the ruins of Rome, the paving-stones of the Pantheon and many other ancient Roman buildings, and
3440-483: The United States (1920 to 1933), as well as provincial prohibition in India (1948 to present). Beer is a beverage fermented from grain mash . It is typically made from barley or a blend of several grains and flavored with hops . Most beer is naturally carbonated as part of the fermentation process. If the fermented mash is distilled, then the drink becomes a spirit . Beer is the most consumed alcoholic beverage in
3520-587: The WHO declared that 'the risk to the drinker’s health starts from the first drop of any alcoholic beverage.' Discovery of late Stone Age jugs suggests that intentionally fermented drinks existed at least as early as the Neolithic period. The oldest verifiable brewery has been found in a prehistoric burial site in a cave near Haifa in modern-day Israel . Researchers have found residue of 13,000-year-old beer that they think might have been used for ritual feasts to honor
3600-469: The Whiskey Insurrection) was a violent tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington . The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax imposed on a domestic product by the newly formed federal government. Beer was difficult to transport and spoiled more easily than rum and whiskey. The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was a coup d'état in
3680-450: The ancient Irish queen Medb , among others. The Chinese word for honey, mì (蜜) was borrowed from the extinct Indo-European Tocharian word mit – also a cognate with the English word mead . Meads will often ferment well at the same temperatures at which wine is fermented, and the yeast used in mead making is often identical to that used in wine making (particularly those used in
3760-454: The dead. The traces of a wheat-and-barley-based alcohol were found in stone mortars carved into the cave floor. The Carmona Wine Urn is a first century Roman glass urn containing intact wine . Discovered in 2019 in Carmona, Spain during excavations of the city's western Roman necropolis , analysis of the urn's contents five years after has deemed the vessel as the oldest surviving wine in
3840-642: The distance between the milestones on the Appian Way . He concluded that the Cossutian foot was the "true" Roman foot, and reported these values compared to the iron standard of the English foot in the Guildhall in London William Smith (1851) gives a value of 0.9708 English feet, or about 295.9 mm. An accepted modern value is 296 mm. That foot is also called the pes monetalis to distinguish it from
3920-565: The distillation of various substances. The distillation of wine is attested in Arabic works attributed to al-Kindī ( c. 801 –873 CE) and to al-Fārābī ( c. 872 –950), and in the 28th book of al-Zahrāwī 's (Latin: Abulcasis, 936–1013) Kitāb al-Taṣrīf (later translated into Latin as Liber servatoris ). 12th century: The process of distillation spread from the Middle East to Italy, where distilled alcoholic drinks were recorded in
4000-476: The evidence is not as precise. No two surviving vessels measure an identical volume, and scholarly opinion on the actual volume ranges between 500 ml (17 US fl oz) and 580 ml (20 US fl oz). The core volume units are: The units of weight or mass were mostly based on factors of 12. Several of the unit names were also the names of coins during the Roman Republic and had
4080-417: The existence of drinking games dates back to antiquity. Drinking games have been banned at some institutions, particularly colleges and universities. A drinking song is a song sung while drinking an alcoholic beverage. A beer garden (German: Biergarten ) is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees. A beer hall ( German : Bierpalast, Bierhalle )
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#17328516875214160-543: The fermentation process has been halted prematurely by dormant or dried yeast. With many different styles of mead possible, there are many different processes employed, although many producers will use techniques recognizable from wine-making. One such example is to rack the product into a second container, once fermentation slows down significantly. These are known as a primary and a secondary fermentation, respectively. Some larger commercial fermenters are designed to allow both primary and secondary fermentation to happen inside
4240-612: The ingredients of alcoholic beverages led to commercial mead becoming a relatively obscure beverage until recently. Some monasteries kept up the traditions of mead-making as a by-product of beekeeping , especially in areas where grapes could not be grown. The English mead – "fermented honey drink" – derives from the Old English meodu or medu , and Proto-Indo-European language , * médʰu . Its cognates include Old Norse mjǫðr , Proto-Slavic medъ , Middle Dutch mede , and Old High German metu , Sanskrit madhu and
4320-428: The labeling of the percentage alcohol content (as ABV or proof ) and the use of a warning label . Some countries ban the consumption of alcoholic drinks , but they are legal in most parts of the world. The temperance movement advocates against the consumption of alcoholic beverages. The global alcoholic drink industry exceeded $ 1.5 trillion in 2017. Alcohol is one of the most widely used recreational drugs in
4400-572: The libra were: The subdivisions of the uncia were: The complicated Roman calendar was replaced by the Julian calendar in 45 BC. In the Julian calendar, an ordinary year is 365 days long, and a leap year is 366 days long. Between 45 BC and AD 1, leap years occurred at irregular intervals. Starting in AD ;4, leap years occurred regularly every four years. Year numbers were rarely used; rather,
4480-425: The mash ingredients had been distilled to a lower level of alcoholic purity. Rectified spirit also lacks any flavoring added to it after distillation (as is done, for example, with gin ). Other kinds of spirits, such as whiskey , (or whisky) are distilled to a lower alcohol percentage to preserve the flavor of the mash. Rectified spirit is a clear, colorless, flammable liquid that may contain as much as 95% ABV . It
4560-570: The mid-12th century. In Italy, the works of Taddeo Alderotti (1223–1296) describe a method for concentrating alcohol involving repeated fractional distillation through a water-cooled still. By the early 14th century, distilled alcoholic drinks had spread throughout the European continent . Distillation spread to Ireland and Scotland no later than the 15th century, as did the common European practice of distilling " aqua vitae ", primarily for medicinal purposes. in 1690, England passed "An Act for
4640-488: The most common distilled drinks, such as whisky (or whiskey) and vodka, the alcohol content is around 40%. The term hard liquor is used in North America to distinguish distilled drinks from undistilled ones (implicitly weaker). Brandy , gin , mezcal , rum , tequila , vodka , whisky (or wiskey) , baijiu , shōchū and soju are examples of distilled drinks. Distilling concentrates the alcohol and eliminates some of
4720-430: The must with non-nitrogen based salts, or vitamins has been tested to improve mead qualities, no evidence suggests that adding micronutrients reduced fermentation time or improved quality. Cell immobilization methods, however, proved effective for enhancing mead quality. Mead can have a wide range of flavors depending on the source of the honey, additives (also known as "adjuncts" or " gruit ") including fruit and spices,
4800-552: The mythology of some peoples. In Norse mythology , for example, the Mead of Poetry , crafted from the blood of Kvasir , would turn anyone who drank it into a poet or scholar. Mead is a drink widely considered to have been discovered prior to the advent of both agriculture and ceramic pottery in the Neolithic , due to the prevalence of naturally occurring fermentation and the distribution of eusocial honey-producing insects worldwide; as
4880-761: The neolithic village of Jiahu in the Henan province of northern China revealed residue left behind by the alcoholic drinks they had once contained. According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , chemical analysis of the residue confirmed that a fermented drink made of grape and hawthorn fruit wine, honey mead and rice beer was being produced in 7000–5600 BC (McGovern et al., 2005; McGovern 2009). The results of this analysis were published in December 2004. The earliest evidence of winemaking
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#17328516875214960-489: The powdered leaves and bark of gesho , a hop-like bittering agent which is a species of buckthorn . A sweeter, less-alcoholic version (honey-water) called berz , aged for a shorter time, is also made. In Kenya a mead variant called Muratina is usually home-made which is used during a number of different important religious and social events. Mead in Poland and Ireland has been part of culinary tradition for over
5040-418: The preparation of white wines). Many home mead makers choose to use wine yeasts to make their meads. By measuring the specific gravity of the mead once before fermentation and throughout the fermentation process using a hydrometer or refractometer , mead makers can determine the proportion of alcohol by volume that will appear in the final product. This also serves to troubleshoot a "stuck" batch, one where
5120-521: The presence of honey, rice, and organic compounds associated with fermentation. The earliest surviving written record of mead is possibly the soma mentioned in the hymns of the Rigveda , one of the sacred books of the historical Vedic religion and (later) Hinduism dated around 1700–1100 BCE. The Rigveda predates the Indo-Iranian separation, dated to roughly 2000 BCE, so this mention may originate from
5200-535: The same fractional value of a larger base unit: libra for weight and as for coin. Modern estimates of the libra range from 322 to 329 g (11.4 to 11.6 oz) with 5076 grains or 328.9 g (11.60 oz) an accepted figure. The as was reduced from 12 ounces to 2 after the First Punic War , to 1 during the Second Punic War , and to half an ounce by the 131 BC Lex Papiria . The divisions of
5280-479: The same vessel. Racking is done for two reasons: it lets the mead sit away from the remains of the yeast cells ( lees ) that have died during the fermentation process. Second, this lets the mead have time to clear. Cloudiness can be caused by either yeast or suspended protein molecules. There is also the possibility that the pectin from any fruit that is used could have set which gives the mead a cloudy look. The cloudiness can be cleared up by either "cold breaking", which
5360-448: The style represented; for instance, a mead made with cinnamon and apples may be referred to as either a cinnamon metheglin or an apple cyser . A mead that also contains spices (such as cloves , cinnamon or nutmeg ), or herbs (such as meadowsweet , hops , or even lavender or chamomile ), is called a metheglin / m ɪ ˈ θ ɛ ɡ l ɪ n / . A mead that contains fruit (such as raspberry , blackberry or strawberry )
5440-771: The sweetness of the original honey, and some may even be considered as dessert wines. Drier meads are also available, and some producers offer sparkling meads. Historically, meads were fermented with wild yeasts and bacteria (as noted in the recipe quoted above) residing on the skins of the fruit or within the honey itself. Wild yeasts can produce inconsistent results. Yeast companies have isolated strains of yeast that produce consistently appealing products. Brewers, winemakers, and mead makers commonly use them for fermentation, including yeast strains identified specifically for mead fermentation. These are strains that have been selected because of their characteristic of preserving delicate honey flavors and aromas. Mead can also be distilled to
5520-439: The taste and aroma of distilled alcoholic drinks and contribute to the taste of non-distilled drinks. It has been suggested that these substances contribute to the symptoms of a hangover . Tannins are congeners found in wine in the presence of phenolic compounds. Wine tannins add bitterness, have a drying sensation, taste herbaceous, and are often described as astringent . Wine tannins add balance, complexity, structure and make
5600-514: The then-British penal colony of New South Wales , staged by the New South Wales Corps in order to depose Governor William Bligh . Australia's first and only military coup, its name derives from the illicit rum trade of early Sydney , over which the 'Rum Corps', as it became known, maintained a monopoly. During the first half of the 19th century, it was widely referred to in Australia as
5680-639: The week the Dominica , or the Lord's day . In 321, Constantine the Great gave his subjects every Sunday off in honor of his family's tutelary deity, the Unconquered Sun , thus cementing the seven-day week into Roman civil society. The Romans divided the daytime into twelve horae or hours starting at sunrise and ending at sunset. The night was divided into four watches. The duration of these hours varied with seasons; in
5760-490: The winter, when the daylight period was shorter, its 12 hours were correspondingly shorter and its four watches were correspondingly longer. Astrologers divided the solar day into 24 equal hours, and these astrological hours became the basis for medieval clocks and our modern 24-hour mean solar day . Although the division of hours into minutes and seconds did not occur until the Middle Ages, Classical astrologers had
5840-444: The world, and about 33% of all humans currently drink alcohol. In 2015, among Americans , 86% of adults had consumed alcohol at some point, with 70% drinking it in the last year and 56% in the last month. Several other animals are affected by alcohol similarly to humans and, once they consume it, will consume it again if given the opportunity, though humans are the only species known to produce alcoholic drinks intentionally. Alcohol
5920-551: The world, surpassing the previous record holder, the Speyer wine bottle (discovered in 1867) by three centuries. Beer was likely brewed from barley as early as 13,000 years ago in the Middle East. Pliny the Elder wrote about the golden age of winemaking in Rome , the 2nd century BCE (200–100 BCE), when vineyards were planted. Examination and analysis of ancient pottery jars from
6000-504: The world. Cider or cyder ( / ˈ s aɪ d ər / SY -dər ) is a fermented alcoholic drink made from any fruit juice ; apple juice (traditional and most common), peaches , pears (" Perry " cider) or other fruit. Cider alcohol content varies from 1.2% ABV to 8.5% or more in traditional English ciders. In some regions, cider may be called " apple wine ". Fermented water is an ethanol -based water solution with approximately 15-17% ABV without sweet reserve . Fermented water
6080-568: The year was specified by naming the Roman consuls for that year. (As consuls' terms latterly ran from January to December, this eventually caused January, rather than March, to be considered the start of the year.) When a year number was required, the Greek Olympiads were used, or the count of years since the founding of Rome, " ab urbe condita " in 753 BC. In the Middle Ages , the year numbering
6160-505: Was changed to the Anno Domini count, based on the supposed birth year of Jesus . The calendar used in most of the modern world, the Gregorian calendar , differs from the Julian calendar in that it skips three leap years every four centuries (i.e. 97 leap years in every 400) to more closely approximate the length of the tropical year . The Romans grouped days into an eight-day cycle called
6240-609: Was dated at 6,000 to 5,800 BCE in Georgia in the South Caucasus . Celtic people were known to have been making types of alcoholic cider as early as 3000 BC. and wine was consumed in Classical Greece at breakfast or at symposia , and in the 1st century BC. Medieval Muslim chemists such as Jābir ibn Ḥayyān (Latin: Geber, ninth century) and Abū Bakr al-Rāzī (Latin: Rhazes, c. 865–925 ) experimented extensively with
6320-512: Was defined as 1 ⁄ 48 of a cubic foot, known as an amphora quadrantal. Using the value 296 mm (11.7 in) for the Roman foot, an amphora quadrantal can be computed at approximately 25.9 L (6.8 US gal), so a sextarius (by the same method) would theoretically measure 540.3 ml (19.02 imp fl oz; 18.27 US fl oz), which is about 95% of an imperial pint (568.26125 ml). Archaeologically, however,
6400-515: Was reckoned to begin at sunrise. The Jews also used a seven-day week, which began Saturday evening. The seventh day of the week they called Sabbath ; the other days they numbered rather than named, except for Friday, which could be called either the Parasceve or the sixth day. Each Jewish day begins at sunset. Christians followed the Jewish seven-day week, except that they commonly called the first day of
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