Weekly Weird: Alcoholic Beverages

Our initial planned "Beverages" post got so long winded, we ended up splitting it to have more time to write it all out! We hope you enjoy!

Beer: Produced across the entire Continent, but certain regions are definitely more known for it than others. (Lubreean and Aralim don’t produce nearly as much beer as elsewhere) Clan Lands makes a variety of rice beers, ranging from very light to very dark. Iki beer is odd– known for fruit infusions and the use of unusual roots and vines. Casfeildians and Solki Islands are known for their barley-based porters and stouts. Kinawans have a higher proportion of lagers than anything else. Tazu beer tends to have a lot of hops, and high alcohol content (fundamentally an IPA). Lu’shun Republic beer is very often made with wheat as well as barley, and the most common variant is a low-hop wheat ale or lager. And in Nor’wah? Well the Ki’ra consider beer to be a drink sacred to Kubesh, and consider brewing it’s many varieties to be high artform and respected craft. They brew undoubtedly the best beer on the Continent (though more than one duel has been fought over that assertion!)

Wine: The southern, temperate parts of the Continent (Lu’shun, Tazu Nation, Casfeild, Lubreean and very southern Clan Lands) are where wine production is centered, for general reasons relating to grapes not liking to grow in deep snow or dry deserts. The Iki also produce wines from several other fruits local to their forest, but limits on harvesting for the envrioment’s protection means that some of these non-grape wines are rather rare and sparsely produced. The Lu’shun Republic is notable for the sheer *amount* of grape wine they produce– more than any other Nation. They are known for unusual innovations in wine as well, such as re-discovering the process to make champagne and things like tergine wine, which is flavored with a local flowering vine. The rosewind vine’s bark, leaves and flowers lends the wine a hefty dose of tergine, an Empathic-enhancing natural compound that gives drinkers a more euphoric, open-to-emotions experience, the Ability to easily see auras, regardless of Talent (though the unTalented’s vision is much more fuzzy and imprecise) and tends to soften the depressive effects of alcohol.

Clan Life wine: Clanfolk are notoriously difficult to get drunk, but the most effective, surefire way to do so is with the use of Lifewine– essentially, blood mixed in with alcohol. Now there's several different methods to make lifewine, and many different 'vintages'. Firstly you can just straight out mix fresh blood and alcohol when you pour (sort of like a bloody cocktail), but this tends to be the les effective for a popper 'buzz'. The more effective methods involve the blood to be already saturated with alcohol when it's drawn from either an animal or a human. Animals,as one can imagine, tend to be the less prefered over humans. Typically humans will get drunk then have some of their blood drawn to make the lifewine– for which they are paid very well and the practice monitored very closely for the safety of all concerned. (however, illegal practices that push humans beyond safety limits do occur, and in the later millenia like the Clan Lands Vella timeline, there is no regulation at all.)

Mead: Nor’wah and Kinawa are particularly noted for the production of this honey-based alcohol. Though Kinawans certainly think their version is the best (and it is sometimes blue thanks to local blue honey), Nor’wah is the most well known for it. Without exception, their mead is insanely tasty and insanely potent. “Ki’ra mead” is a common export to the Clan Lands, Tar’citadel, and other lands south and west where it has a reputation for being strong enough to get even Tazu and Clansfolk properly drunk. The Iki also produce mead, but it has strong connections to certain local religious practices, and therefore is not sold commercially to outsiders.

Kumis: This milk-based alcoholic drink is most popular in Zo’den, who herd several types of animals for their dairy. It is not very popular elsewhere, in part due to its low alcohol content, but in provinces of Aralim that have rules against selling and consuming intoxicants, the proximity of Zo’den kumis means this drink is the most commonly smuggled alcohol across national borders.

Sl’aand: this barrel-aged and distilled liquor (made from an alcoholic “whey wine” called blaand, just like its Pre-Fall predecessor drink) was invented in the Solki Islands. The very acidic blaand is unpopular outside of the Islands, but flavored versions of the distilled sl’aand are exported *everywhere.* Most people do not realize it is made from the whey of hersha milk, since by the time it is distilled and aged, the flavor has changed considerably. Mint and raspberry are two common sl’aand flavoring agents, and eastern-most island is famous for a milk-and-cocoa sl’aand cordial that is honestly rather similar to a modern Bailey’s Irish Creme. A more powerful version of sl’aand is used only by initiated adults, and travelers only ever are allowed it under the supervision of trained Turinic Way Walkers. It is flavored with the vanillin compound found in the kiggiahali mushroom, giving it a psychotropic effect that enhances natural Mediumship and Empathic abilities, allowing the imbiber the Ability to see beyond the Veil much easier than usual, even for the unTalented. (Concentrated kiggiahali is much stronger than the Lu’shun tergine wine, which generally buffers the drinker more from negative energies and actually dampens Mediumship Ability overall)

Tazu sankal- probably the strongest drink in the world, sankal is a grain based alcohol that is a whopping 97% alcohol (what would be considered a 195 proof by the modern system, basically just short of rocket fuel lol). It's purification method is magical and secret by nature, but it is known that they can infuse other flavors into the drink during the process, making it even more desirable. The most common flavor is an 'almond' taste, but licorice and a sparkling grape are also popular. Some very expensive bottles of sankal will have either charged gemstones or bits of magical creatures, like ice drake scales or thunderbird claws, for purported magical enhancement. This is *usually* just a marketing ploy, but sankal actually can be used by mages as a base liquid for powerful magical elixirs and potions.

Clan Lands Saki – Rice-based alcohols are made in several Nations, but Clan Lands’ saki is particularly notable because it is made of black rice in such a way that preserves its deep, dark, almost purple hue. (It was also invented by a human, and the method of its production is a deeply guarded secret known and passed down by a handful of human families who have sworn a blood pact to never share the recipe). This is a very popular export between the ‘Lands and Lubreean, much to many a Muilan merchant’s chagrin, who are able to make a lovely pale-lavender saki using the same black rice, but covet the deeper amethyst colors attainable by the ‘Lands secretive human brewers.

Other Distilled Spirits: Casfeild makes a wide variety of aged liquors, prizing drinks that go through multiple stages of brewing, distillation and barrel-aging, but use a variety of base materials including rum (sugar), brandy (fruits/grapes), and whiskey (grain). These drinks can take literal centuries to mature, though. Rum is most often made in the southern part of the Continent, with big centers of production in Lubreean and coastal Zo’den. Fuorin-Iki is the top producer of exotic fruit brandies, and exports them across the continent. Though most often associated with Kinawa and Nor’wah, whiskey is actually very common in northern Aralim (where there tend to be fewer restrictions against intoxicants than the southern provinces). Last but certainly not least, the most infamous distilled spirit in the Middle Lands is known as bash, and is basically made from whatever fruit, grains or other vaguely sugary things can be had at hand, fermented over natural volcanic fumaroles until the base mash is imbued with a traditional sulphuric tang, and after being distilled is traditionally served in a bone cup. It is rumored to be able to Taint the drinker with Red magic, but really all it does is serve up the most wicked hangover on the Continent.