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,
Punch (drink) Punch (drink) The term punch refers to a wide assortment of drinks, both non-alcoholic and alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice. The drink was introduced from India to the United Kingdom in the early seventeenth century, and from there its use spread to other countries. Punch is typically served at parties in large, wide bowls, known as "punch bowls". The word "punch" is a loanword from Sanskrit पञ्च ("pañca"), meaning "five", as the drink was originally made with five ingredients: alcohol, sugar, lemon, water, and tea or spices. The drink was brought to England from India by sailors and