Alcoholic drinks in China Cuisine, Fermented Beverages, and Health at the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia. Professor McGovern explains: “The earliest chemically confirmed alcoholic beverage in the world was discovered at Jiahu in the Yellow River Valley of China (Henan province), ca. 7000-6600 B.C. (Early Neolithic Period). It was an extreme fermented beverage made of wild grapes (the earliest attested use), hawthorn, rice, and honey.” And, Professor McGovern continues: “The Jiahu discovery illustrates how you should never give up hope in finding chemical evidence for a fermented beverage from the Palaeolithic period. Research very often has big surprises in store. You might think,
Korean alcoholic drinks are six distinct flavors: sweet, sour, pungent, roasted, bitter and spicy. When the flavors are balanced, the alcohol is considered good quality. Most traditional Korean alcoholic drinks are rice wines, fermented with the aid of yeast and "nuruk" (a wheat-based source of the enzyme amylase). Main varieties include clear rice wines ("cheongju"), milky rice wine ("takju"), distilled liquor ("soju"), fruit wine ("gwasil-ju"), flower wines, and medicinal wines. "Makgeolli" (also known as "takju" and "nongju"), is a milky, sweet alcoholic drink made from rice. It is one of Korea's most-popular alcoholic drinks. The oldest traditional Korean rice wine, its alcohol content