The ancient times referred to here are rather vague, such as modern times, medieval times, or ancient times. Let’s briefly describe it: Chinese wine originated from natural fermentation of grains, so basically before the Yuan Dynasty, China’s rice wine was mainly naturally fermented rice wine and rice wine, supplemented by fruit wine and grain wine; after the Yuan Dynasty, distillation began to gradually appear High-quality wine.
"If you are happy in life, you must enjoy it to the fullest. Don't let the gold bottle stand empty against the moon. I am born with talents that will be useful. I will come back after all the gold is gone. The five-flowered horse and the golden fur will be exchanged for fine wine. "You can share the sorrow of the ages." "If you enjoy a glass of wine while you are alive, why should you be famous for a thousand years after your death?" Li Bai was addicted to alcohol throughout his life, and his poems about wine have become classics and have been passed down through the ages. Later generations also praised him as a poet. And was ancient wine really that delicious? How many degrees does it have? What does it taste like?
Alcohol content
China’s wine culture can be traced back to 5,000 years ago. There are many varieties of wine, such as rice wine, millet wine, rice wine, rice wine, and sugar cane wine in the Han Dynasty. etc., the taste is similar to the aromatic raw materials of the Tang Dynasty. This kind of wine is called "Lujiu" by the Tang Dynasty people. Today, the Japanese call rice wine "Milu" and "Ginro", which is also the concept of "Lujiu" and "Ginjo". , very similar to today’s cocktails, and the names are also very nice), famous ones such as pomegranate flower wine, Lianbai wine, Puhuang wine, dogwood wine, vine flower wine, coconut wine, cinnamon wine, wine, etc. In the Tang poem, "Glow-in-the-dark cup of grape wine" It refers to the scene of drinking wine from a glass cup. There are also some wines with added ingredients, such as pepper wine, cypress wine, cinnamon wine, and Lanying wine. On the margins, there are also some pine and cypress wines that Taoists highly recommend for longevity and immortality, such as pine mash spring, pine flower wine, and pine essence wine. , cypress leaf wine and so on. The most common feature of these wines is that the alcohol content is not high. According to the records of the Tang Dynasty, the pressing method was mainly used to filter wine in the Tang Dynasty. It can be seen that distillation has not yet appeared, and naturally fermented wine without distillation, Since it is difficult for yeast to continue fermentation after the alcohol concentration reaches 20%, the brewing alcohol content is approximately between 0 and 18 degrees. As for the "distilled wine" that appeared after the Yuan Dynasty (there are also different opinions in academic circles), the alcohol content is relatively high, which is about equivalent to today's liquor. The alcohol content ranges from 30 to 60 degrees. According to the analysis of historical data, probably before the Song and Yuan dynasties, fermented wine was usually made from Qu Niang. This kind of wine was brewed from grains, fruits, dairy and other raw materials through yeast fermentation. The degree is very low, 20 degrees is considered the highest. It has almost no taste and can be consumed as a drink.
Judgment Criteria
The questioner did not explain the purpose of the judgment criteria, such as the judgment criteria for alcohol content, or the criteria for wine tasting or wine body, wine quality, etc. For the time being, this is regarded as a criterion for judging wine quality. Putting aside the culture and atmosphere of drinking, such as country wine, Qushui wine, green plum boiled wine, etc., purely in terms of the wine itself, it is still judged from the perspective of color, aroma and taste. For example, in the Zhou Dynasty, wine was graded according to its clarity, turbidity, and thickness. At that time, "Bojiu" had the name of "Five Qi", that is, according to the degree of clearness and turbidity of the wine, there were five types: Fanqi, Liqi, Anqi, Daiqi and Shenqi. "Thick wine" is called "酎", which means wine that has been brewed many times. In the Tang Dynasty, there were standards for judging the color of wine. People at that time preferred light yellow wine that was thoroughly fermented. "Goslings" and "ducks" are metaphors for the color of good rice wine. If the fermentation is not good, there will be rice grains floating in the wine. On the surface, they are likened to ants, and are nicknamed green ants, wax ants, jade ants, etc. Regarding the taste of wine, there is a criterion of "fat as a twist, greasy as a weave". "Wine-fat" is frowned upon, while "wine-tender" is better. The sweetness of wine is slightly different according to personal preference. For example, Bai Juyi said, "If a large household dislikes sweet wine, only a high-ranking person laughs at small poems." This refers to the market conditions at that time. Sweet wine with a short fermentation time has a lower alcohol content. It is more popular with people who are not heavy drinkers, but is disliked by people who drink a lot.
Since the Northern Song Dynasty, when barbarians such as the Liao Kingdom, the Jin Kingdom, and the Yuan Dynasty entered China, distillation was pioneered. Only then did the wine have the same strength as the wine we drink today. The reason why distilled liquor has such a high alcohol content is that its raw materials are generally rich in natural sugar or starch and other substances that are easily converted into sugar. Sugar and starch are fermented by yeast to produce alcohol. The boiling point of alcohol is 78.5 and the boiling point of water is 100. By heating the original fermented fermentation liquid to between the two boiling points, the alcohol components and aroma substances can be evaporated and collected, and then By cooling it, you can get a colorless, pungent-smelling wine. Generally, the alcohol content of fermented wine is less than 20%, while that of distilled wine can be as high as 60%.
Anyone who likes watching martial arts knows that Qiao Feng, the leader of the Beggar Clan, can drink a thousand glasses of wine. Whether it is to be the boss or the first friend, whether it is a big event or daily diet, in short, there is no way to have fun without wine. This ancient hero's vigorous drinking posture is very shocking! He often says "I'll do it first out of respect", and then there's nothing left but an empty jar! Thinking about it now, who can drink like this? So why are modern people so different from the ancients when it comes to drinking?
China’s wine culture is actually not very long, and the Chinese are not considered to be the nation that understands and knows how to drink wine in the world. (Every time I make this assertion, a group of patriotic young people will beat me to death with bricks.) Although I don’t want to admit it, this is indeed a fact. Compared with ancient Egypt, ancient Babylon, Georgia and other places, China took a longer time to produce alcohol. It’s not that long, and the history of drinking is no more than four thousand years.
Everyone should know that wine in ancient times was brewed wine, usually with a temperature of more than ten degrees. It wasn't until the Song Dynasty that the alcohol content increased a little, but don't expect any high-quality liquor to appear. For example, the heroes of Liangshan gathered together to eat and drink. It seemed like a large amount, but in fact it was equivalent to drinking a little glutinous rice. Fermented glutinous rice is used to relieve heat in summer. The main raw material is glutinous rice. The brewing process is simple, the taste is sweet and mellow, and the ethanol content is very low, so it is very popular among people. Glutinous rice wine is often used as an important seasoning in the preparation of some dishes. The ancient units of weights and measures are completely different from those of modern times. For example, 1 liter in the Western Han Dynasty was only 0.3 liters today, while 1 liter in the Eastern Han Dynasty was less than 0.2 liters today. Even if the units in the Tang Dynasty were larger, they were still less than 1:0.6! Therefore, the issue of conversion is also a key factor in why heroes often drink a thousand cups!
Moreover, China’s main wine is rice wine. Due to natural fermentation, the wine has a high sugar content but a low alcohol content. Therefore, people who love rice wine can drink it in large bowls, which feels like We're having a beer today. In addition, in terms of drinking etiquette, even Confucius’s Rites of Zhou or the Rites of the Emperor, regarding the drinking utensils, drinking temperature, and matching, etc., we are still far behind foreign countries. Because there is no distillation technology, Chinese wine has always been so dizzy, like drinking low-alcohol wine. Therefore, Tao Yuanming could sleep among the chrysanthemums, and Li Bai could play the guzheng, recite poems, and drink wine.
The pace of life of the ancients was much slower than that of modern people, and there were not as many ways of recreation as modern people. Whenever they got bored, they would gather up with relatives and friends to chat about the mountains, and the conversation would turn into "long night drinking" or something like that. . Anyway, I have a lot of time, drinking it for 6 hours a night, it’s hard not to be afraid of the huge amount. Therefore, exaggeration is used. Don’t take it seriously. When you were in school, you often studied martial arts novels, monster novels, etc. You all know what it means to be angry and critical. Exaggerated metaphors are everywhere in novels. Because of this, Li Bai, the master of wine, "had to drink three hundred cups a day for a hundred years and thirty-six thousand days", Chen Houzhu, the king of the subjugated country, "drank one stone a day", and Wu Song could "live in Jingyanggang" after drinking eighteen bowls. , just take a look, it’s your own problem if you want to be more serious.