Discover the 9 Oldest Alcohols in the World

Fermentation and alcoholic drinks are a huge part of human history. It’s long been thought that humans switched from hunter-gatherers to a more settled culture for bread and other items they couldn’t get while traveling constantly. However, people are starting to believe that isn’t the case based on some of the oldest alcohols in the world found by archeologists so far.

More and more evidence is coming out that shows people didn’t settle down for food security, but to be able to make alcoholic beverages. At the moment, it’s just speculation, but it makes for a good story.

So far, the oldest alcohol found and confirmed by scientists dates back 9,000 years ago. While not quite as old, it’s still a pretty impressive span.

This article not only covers that impressive archaeological discovery, but also some of the other oldest alcohols found around the world.

9. Ninkasi Beer

Ninkasi Beer comes from Mesopotamia, around modern-day southern Iraq. It was made from a mix of grains, honey, and malt in 1800 BCE.

The recipe for this beer was easy to find, even without samples of the liquid, because it’s found in the Hymn to Ninkasi. This was a goddess of alcohol, brewing, and beer.

8. Beer from Babylonia

Archeologists have known that people in Babylonia drank beer. The Code of Hammurabi wrote laws surrounding beer, including the proper way to brew and drink the alcoholic beverage.

These laws were already pretty impressive, creating a backbone of many law systems still established today. But it’s still crazy to see that laws surrounding beer were first put in place almost 5,000 years ago.

7. Herbal Wines and Beers

Egypt is home to the oldest example of an herbal wine. These were alcoholic beverages made from fruits, and sometimes cereals, dating back to 3150 BCE

Herbal wines differ from other wines because of their purpose. Extra herbs and resins in the wine helped to increase their medicinal use.

6. Iran’s Beer

The oldest beer discovered to date originated in Iran, known as Godin Tepe. While all beer uses some form of cereal grains, the oldest example of beer found so far used specifically barley grains. This beer dates back to 3400 BCE.

However, based on pictographs of Sumerians and other people in Mesopotamia, it appears that bears of all different colors and shades were commonly ingested. So far, no surviving evidence of the drinks themselves has been found though.

5. Indian Mead

Mead has a long history. However, that’s not the only thing that makes this honey-fermented drink amazing. It’s still in use today and growing in popularity.

Viking history and classic tales like Beowulf celebrate mead. The oldest evidence of the drink dates back to around 6,000 years ago. However, though there’s no evidence found as of yet, historians believe mead dates back much further than 6,000 years ago.

4. Chicha

Chicha is a ceremonial drink that dates back to about 5000 BCE. The drink has important ceremonial and cultural connotations in the Andes region of South America.

Corn is the base for this ceremonial drink. Despite having alcohol in it, people drank chicha the same way modern society drinks coffee.

3. Hajji Firuz Tepe Wine

Hajji Firuz Tepe wine originates in Iran. Jars found in the archaeological site had traces of wine, both red and white, as well as resin from trees to act as a preservative. The site dates back to somewhere between 5400 and 5000 BCE.

For a long time, this wine was the oldest wine to date. However, another wine took over second place, becoming the oldest found wine in the world.

2. Georgian Wine

Georgia (the country, not the state), has the world’s oldest wine in the world. The capital, Tbilisi, had jars containing compounds associated with wine. The contents and the jars date back 8,000, with the oldest jar dating back to 5980 BCE.

So far, Georgia’s wine is the oldest in the world. Historians believe that Georgia’s grape vines started the tradition of growing Eurasian grapes with the sole purpose of using them in wine.

1. Fermented Drinks from China

The oldest alcohol found and studied so far comes from China. In the early 2000s, a series of archeologists uncovered jars in China dating back somewhere between 7000 and 6600 BCE. This would put them at 9,000 years old.

The jars contained a fermented alcoholic drink that was a mix of grape, hawthorn fruit, honey, and rice. Because of the ingredients, it was a mix of what we would now consider rice beer, honey mead, and wine.

Summary of the Oldest Alcohols in the World

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