The Oldest Drink in History: Humanity’s First Taste of Alcohol

Before craft breweries and cocktail bars, humanity’s relationship with alcohol began over 9,000 years ago. That’s right—long before beer and wine dominated the scene, people were brewing something extraordinary: a fermented beverage made from honey, rice, hawthorn fruit, and possibly grapes. Historians have traced this ancient drink back to the 7th millennium B.C. in Jiahu, a Neolithic village in China’s Henan Province. And just like that, our love affair with alcohol was born.

This ancient drink is believed to be the predecessor of mead, often dubbed "the nectar of the gods." But here’s the twist—it wasn’t humans who “invented” mead. Nature did it first. Imagine a beehive abandoned under the sun. The heat melts the beeswax, trapping honey inside. Rainwater seeps in, and with the help of natural yeast and enzymes in raw honey, fermentation begins. What was left behind was nature’s first accidental brew. Early humans likely discovered this by chance, and the rest is (quite literally) history.

By 7,000 B.C., people in Jiahu began recreating this natural phenomenon, blending honey, water, rice, and fruit to make a more refined version. As the recipe spread across the world, mead gained legendary status in many cultures. The ancient Greeks believed mead was divine dew sent by the gods and collected by bees, celestial creatures thought to carry messages between worlds. They saw the drink as sacred, often using it in ceremonies and associating it with immortality. Aristotle even gave it a shoutout in his book Meteorologica in the 4th century B.C.

Fast forward to Ancient Rome, and mead—known as mulsum—became a status symbol for the elite. Spiced with cinnamon, cloves, and pepper, it was the drink of choice for the upper class. Meanwhile, the Vikings and medieval Europeans celebrated mead as a drink of warriors and poets, further cementing its legendary status.

Today, mead is making a comeback, gaining popularity as people rediscover its rich flavors and even richer history. It’s a reminder that humanity’s journey with alcohol began with curiosity and creativity—and a little help from the bees.

So the next time you raise a glass, think about this: you’re sipping on the legacy of a drink that predates the pyramids, written in the stars and perfected by generations. Cheers to history’s first buzz!