Posca

 

                                  

                                                   Alcoholic Beverages In Ancient Rome

Posca: Major Drink made with Sour Wine/Water/Flavouring Herbs

Posca

Posca - the ancient equivalent to cheap 3-2 beer of today - was a particularly common drink among the poorer classes of the society due to its low price and low alcohol content.

Soon the drink also gained popularity among the Roman soldiers and the slaves of ancient Rome.

The widespread use of posca, throughout the Roman period from the 300-200 BC and at the beginning of the Byzantine period, is attested by numerous references in ancient sources such as the natural histories of Pliny the Elder to the comedies of Plautus (second century BC). In the Byzantine army the drink was actually called the phouska

                                                                          Posca: Recipe

Posca (the Latin Potor (to drink) or from the Greek epoxos (very sharp), was a medical mixture prepared from sour wine or vinegar with water. Recent studies have shown that posca was actually quite healthy. It had health benefits because it contained vitamin C and its strong acidity easily killed all harmful bacteria. Added flavoring herbs and spices (especially coriander seeds), made posca taste much better.

Posca recipe
1.5 cups of red wine vinegar.
0.5 cups of honey.
1 tablespoon of crushed coriander seed.
4 cups of water.
Boil it so that the honey dissolves.
Let it cool down so that it reaches room temperature.
Filter the coriander seeds.

                                                                    Posca: Past To Present

Hadrian: The Roman Emperor and Posca

Posca was a popular drink among ancient Roman soldiers and poor peasants. It was usually made by watering down low quality wine and then adding spices to make it taste better. The Roman legions used to receive a lot of vinegar in rations. The soldiers used to add water to the vinegar to turn it into drinkable posca.  Water, sanitation in those times was quite sub-standard and normal drinking water was usually contaminated. This only added to posca’s popularity as its acidity killed most of the germs and kept the drink from early stagnation.

The Roman legions were known to carry huge barrels of posca wine during their military campaigns. Drinking good wine while in the army was taken as a matter of bad reputation and against the discipline. So high ranking generals would also drink it together with troops to show their allegiance to the legion. Even the great Hadrian always drank posca when in campaigns, to show his men he was one of them.

                                                                            Posca: Present

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