cwdjrxyz wrote:
> On Jul 9, 9:15 am, Mark Lipton > wrote:
>> RichD wrote:
>>> It's easy to imagine the accidental discovery of beer
>>> and wine, maybe 10000 years ago. Grain ferments
>>> naturally. We might speculate this was the genesis
>>> of agriculture - the cavemen wanted a stable supply of barley.
>>> But I was wondering about distilled liquor - it's a
>>> sophisticated, nonintuitive process. This must have
>>> appeared much later.
>>> Anybody have any ideas when/where/how distillation
>>> was invented/discovered? What are the earliest records?
>> The Wikipedia article seems fairly well sourced to me, and jibes with
>> what I know of the history of Alchemy. Certainly, the Islamic scientist
>> Geber is widely credited with the development of "scientific"
>> distillation, and the name alcohol itself reveals its Islamic origins
>> (from Arabic al-kuhl, meaning "spirits" or something like that).
>>
>> Mark Lipton
>
> Yes, I have heard about the Islamic origins of distillation, and frm
> there distillation spread to Europe. However the early history of
> distillation may date back to the Chinese in 3000 BC. See a brief
> discussion of the use of distillation at http://www.essentialspirits.com/history.htm
> . This was written by a person well-known in the Cognac region, so it
> likely is fairly accurate.
>
> I doubt if many modern people would like to drink any of this early
> brew, including that first made in France where it was called eau de
> vie at first. "Firewater" likely would have been a more apt name back
> then. Crude alcoholic distillates back then were considered medicine
> for the most part. As time passed the firewater was sweetened and
> various herbs and spices were added. An early example called
> Goldwasser still can be found today. It is sweet, has considerable
> herb-spice character, and has small particles of gold leaf in it.
> Likely the early versions of Goldwasser were much less smooth, since
> they were based on a less refined alcohol. At one time sugar was very
> expensive. Thus a brew of alcohol, sugar, then expensive spices and
> herbs, and gold should be a super medicine besides being far easier to
> drink than the crude alcohol alone.

Half fill a glass with Goldwasser, and slowly add Absinthe. It forms two
layers, green and clear. Or maybe it's the other way around. Can't
remember - but it's good:-)

--
Dirk

http://www.transcendence.me.uk/ - Transcendence UK
Remote Viewing classes in London