Mead in Poland which the 12th-century chronicler Gallus Anonymus described as "flowing with honey". This abundance of honey and a climate ill-suited for grape growing meant that mead was long more popular than wine. In 996, the Sephardi Jewish traveller Ibrahim ibn Yaqub wrote that "besides food, meat and land for ploughing, the country of Mieszko I abounds in mead, which is what the Slavic wines and intoxicating drinks are called". In the 15th century, the Venetian diplomat Ambrogio Contarini observed that "having no wine, [the Poles] make a certain drink out of honey, which intoxicates people much more than wine." The 16th-century
Black drink traditionally limited to only adult men. The ritual name "Asi Yahola" or "Black Drink Singer" is corrupted into English as "Osceola"). Among the Timucua, a type of black drink was called "cacina" by the Spanish. The preparation and consumption of the drink were strictly limited to the community council house. Women (other than an occasional female chief) were normally excluded from the council house except for activities such as dances, but did prepare the "cacina". In 1678 a bedridden "cacica" (a female chief) was given permission to brew and consume "cacina" in her house, on the condition that no one