History of alcoholic drinks hawthorn berries, honey, and rice was being produced in 7000–6650 BC. The results of this analysis were published in December 2004. This is approximately the time when barley beer and grape wine were beginning to be made in the Middle East. The earliest firm evidence of wine production dates back to 6000 BC in Georgia . Evidence of alcoholic beverages has also been found dating from 3150 BC in ancient Egypt, 3000 BC in Babylon, 2000 BC in pre-Hispanic Mexico, and 1500 BC in Sudan. The medicinal use of alcohol was mentioned in Sumerian and Egyptian texts dating from about
Barley water, then mixing the barley water with white wine and other ingredients, such as borage, lemon and sugar. In the 19th century, a different barley wine was made prepared from recipes of ancient Greek origin. Nonalcoholic drinks such as barley water and roasted barley tea have been made by boiling barley in water. In Italy, barley is also sometimes used as coffee substitute, "caffè d'orzo" (coffee of barley). This drink is obtained from ground, roasted barley and it is prepared as an espresso (it can be prepared using percolators, filter machines or cafetieres). It became widely used during the Fascist