History of alcoholic drinks "Gandhara stills" were only capable of producing very weak liquor, as there was no efficient means of collecting the vapors at low heat. While the art of wine making reached the Hellenic peninsula by about 2000 BC, the first alcoholic beverage to obtain widespread popularity in what is now Greece was mead, a fermented beverage made from honey and water. However, by 1700 BC, wine making was commonplace. During the next thousand years wine drinking assumed the same function so commonly found around the world: It was incorporated into religious rituals. It became important in hospitality, used for medicinal purposes,
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