Try The Oldest Known Alcoholic Drink

In The Deadliest Hate, Miriam tells us about a dinner she attended at the home of Judah’s half-brother, Eran:

Jabin, Eran’s assistant, conducted us to a set of four dining couches around a low, square, bronze-legged table topped with onyx. As soon as we took our places—Eran moved swiftly despite his bulk—the look-alike houseboys set before us napkins and crystal goblets, which they filled from a freshly mixed crater of wine and honey-sweetened water, and then offered the first course, a platter of steaming vegetables in a pungent mustard sauce.

This drink, called mulsum in ancient Rome, is the oldest known alcoholic drink. In the Roman world, it was served before dinner. The wine was sweetened with honey because the wild grapes at that time were bitter, unlike the hybrid grapes used today. But for regular consumption, the drink was also diluted with two parts water for each part wine, making it a refreshing drink with very little alcohol. To make it, all you need to do is add half a cup of honey to a bottle of medium dry white wine. Store it in a very cool place, and bring it out just before serving.

Read The Deadliest Hate, a winner at the New York Book Festival (2016), but I warn you, you may need some wine, honey sweetened or not, when Miriam is targeted by Judean terrorists. Just click here.