Ancient Persia and its Liquid Gold
How many dashes of bitters should I use in an Old Fashioned?
MOREStart with 2-3 dashes of Angostura bitters. You can adjust according to your taste, but be cautious not to overpower the drink with bitterness.
Those five 9 litre jars excavated from Hajji Firuz Tepe
Archeological excavation in the Northwest Iran and the excavations at the Godin Tepe in the Zagros Mountain in the 1960s suggest that Iran was one of the earliest civilisations where wine was made.
The Yellowish residue found in five nine litre jars excavated from the floor of a probable kitchen of a mud brick structure, from the Hajji Firuz Tepe in the northern Zagros Mountains of Iran, by Mary M.Voigt in the 1960s, ushers a lot of light on the understanding of Neolithic Winemaking.
The yellowish residue and the jars, probably of thousands of years old wine, were dated back to at least 5400-5000 BC.
Chemical analysis of the yellowish fluid showed it contained tartaric acid ( commonly found in grapes ) and calcium tartrate ( a by-product of wine making and a calcium salt of Tartaric Acid ) which although is not definitive proof of winemaking, it does show a strong possibility, grapes being unique as one of the very source of tartaric acid in nature, tartaric acid being the most abundant acid in wines and often crystallise and deposit at the bottom of containers that are used to age wine.
Neolithic Wine Jar from Hajji Firuz Tepe - Source 
Achaemenid Tomb Attributed to Darius IIThe Tomb of King Darius
A Greek food author named Athenaeus has mentioned in his book that the Achaemenid King Darius the Great had the following inscription on his tomb : ?I was able to drink a great deal of wine and to bear it well?.
Drink and decide and then think and decide
From excerpts of writing by Greek Historian Herodotus of the 5th Century BCE, it is learnt that the Persians were very fond of wine and it played an important role in decision making. Herodotus writes that the Persians took critical decisions under the influence of Wine, and the next morning they would again reconsider the decision taken and if it is still worth going for, it is considered to be the decision taken.
It is said that the ritual of drinking was apparently used as part of decision making at the time of King Cyrus of Persia(525 B.C),who often praised the virtue of moderate drinking.
Being part of the History of Herodotus
Sasanian Iran 4th-5th Century Anahita Vessel Cleveland Museum of ArtWine making in Sassanid Period continued well into the Umayyad era
Historian Rudi Matthee explains that in Zoroastrianism wine was a symbol for liquid gold as well as the moving fire of the radiant sun, and it is understood that wine held a ritual function in Zoroastrianism and was a substitute for blood in the liberation ritual.
Like the ancient Achaemenids, the Sassanid period in Persia, wine played an important role in court rituals too. Imperial wine presses have been discovered in Fars, these presses were evidently shut down after Muslim conquest in the late 7th century, but the local Zoroastrian communities continued producing wine.
The Zoroastrians had a unique trade relationship with the Muslims and the Muslims too had unique trade relationship with the Zoroastrians, that allowed the Zoroastrians produce and sell wine and open taverns, and the Persian term referring to a wine steward in Bacchic poetry, mobadhcheh ( son of a magus, where magus refers to Zoroastrians ) refers to these Zoroastrian taverns. Medieval Persian poet Hafiz refers to drinking adventures inside "Magian taverns" and Zoroastrian tavern girls entertaining and serving wine.
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Neel B and Mani, we are a team of two, from Calcutta, India. We are professional software engineers and passionate cocktail enthusiasts. We built this app because we saw a need for a more comprehensive and user-friendly way to find cocktails and bartending recipes. We hope you enjoy using our app as much as we enjoyed making it!We decided to use our technology skills to help others who were in the same position as us and wanted to experiment with making cocktails at home but didn\u2019t know where to start. We have been working together for more than two years and has managed to collect an extensive library of recipes as well as tips and tricks for making the perfect cocktail.
Neel B is an Electronics and Telecommunications Engineer and martial arts and fitness enthusiast. He is an avid reader, compulsive doodler, and painter. His love for cocktails arises from the art in it and the history that traces the ups and downs of modern civilisation over centuries.
Maniis an ERP and SaaS developer and architect by day and a cocktail enthusiast in her leisure. She holds a Masters in Computer Application and Programming. In addition to writing stories on the history of cocktails and alcohol, she has a special interest in cocktails in literature. She believes that the perfect cocktail can make any moment special.