Wine on Roshar...

[Aryanath]

...is it made from grapes, or some native fruit? Are there grapes on Roshar? Are the different colors of wine the result of different fruit bases or Rosharian varieties of grapes?

[Laughing Fool]

I think there is WoB that says Rosharan wine is made from fermented fruit, but not grapes. On Earth it wouldn't technically be called wine. That's about all I know.

[Terisen]

Here's the WoB:

 

Q:  You very clearly make rules for the wine in this world, like the different colors and different alcohol content.  I was wondering what the inspiration for that is, and also what some of them are actually made from, because it doesn't seem like grapes.

A:  It's not grapes, it's a local fruit.  So we would not probably call it wine, we would probably call it something else.  And it's based on my desire to do funky things with world building in every way I can. [The color is a cultural thing.]

Edited June 22, 2014 by Terisen

[dyring]

Ehm? But you can make wine from other things then grapes?

 

My parents used to make wine from apples and plums for example.

[maxal]

As I was drinking wine this evening, I started wondering about Rosharian wines.... Do we have any idea of the alcohol content in each colored wine?

 

So far, if I recall properly, we have: orange, yellow, blue and purple. Yellow being barely more than juice and purple being the strong stuff. I would see it go this way:

 

Orange: Coolers, about 0.5%

Yellow: Light Beer, about 5%

Blue: Strong Beer about 8-9%

Purple: Wine about 12%

 

Any thoughts? Could purple wine be more like liquor and blue wine more like wine? I am quite confident about orange and yellow though.

[Aleksiel]

As I was drinking wine this evening, I started wondering about Rosharian wines.... Do we have any idea of the alcohol content in each colored wine?

 

So far, if I recall properly, we have: orange, yellow, blue and purple. Yellow being barely more than juice and purple being the strong stuff. I would see it go this way:

 

Orange: Coolers, about 0.5%

Yellow: Light Beer, about 5%

Blue: Strong Beer about 8-9%

Purple: Wine about 12%

 

Any thoughts? Could purple wine be more like liquor and blue wine more like wine? I am quite confident about orange and yellow though.

 

I imagined blue to be wine-like and purple to be stronger. And in my mind orange is like radler (~2%).

[maxal]

I imagined blue to be wine-like and purple to be stronger. And in my mind orange is like radler (~2%).

 

Adolin complains orange wine is like juice, so I thought it would be more like coolers..... he keeps saying you can't get drunk on orange wine, but you could be right.

 

If purple was stronger than wine, then people would not drinking it so much... I mean, you cannot drown huge glasses of strong liquor, which is why I think it must be like wine. Dalinar certainly does not want his sons to drink purple wine, but he accepts the occasional glass of blue wine. Bottom line, he allows only the among of alcohol he is sure won't get either of his son drunk. I wonder if we are going to see either Adolin or Renarin indulge on the purple wine at some point......

 

In fact, knowing Adolin drink yellow wine before dueling, it could be that one is like radler and blue wine is more like regular beer.

[Aleksiel]

Adolin complains orange wine is like juice, so I thought it would be more like coolers..... he keeps saying you can't get drunk on orange wine, but you could be right.

 

If purple was stronger than wine, then people would not drinking it so much... I mean, you cannot drown huge glasses of strong liquor, which is why I think it must be like wine. Dalinar certainly does not want his sons to drink purple wine, but he accepts the occasional glass of blue wine. Bottom line, he allows only the among of alcohol he is sure won't get either of his son drunk. I wonder if we are going to see either Adolin or Renarin indulge on the purple wine at some point......

 

In fact, knowing Adolin drink yellow wine before dueling, it could be that one is like radler and blue wine is more like regular beer.

 

You are right, but wouldn't that mean there isn't anything stronger than Earth-like wine on Roshar? That would be weird. No other alcohol has been mentioned besides the colorful wines.

[maxal]

You are right, but wouldn't that mean there isn't anything stronger than Earth-like wine on Roshar? That would be weird. No other alcohol has been mentioned besides the colorful wines.

 

True. But let's say purple wine is the equivalent of ice wine or porto, could you really drink a pitcher of this stuff?

[Aleksiel]

True. But let's say purple wine is the equivalent of ice wine or porto, could you really drink a pitcher of this stuff?

 

There are people who can drink more than a bottle of vodka/whiskey without falling under the table. 

[maxal]

There are people who can drink more than a bottle of vodka/whiskey without falling under the table. 

 

Yeah true.............. but then again you don't see that every day............. And Elhokar drowning the whole pitcher of purple wine.... Had it been liquor, he would have fallen into ethylic coma or just die........

[Aleksiel]

Yeah true.............. but then again you don't see that every day............. And Elhokar drowning the whole pitcher of purple wine.... Had it been liquor, he would have fallen into ethylic coma or just die........

 

It depends. He didn't drink that fast and he had some food, he might also be able to tolerate more liquor considering how he drinks relatively often. It's not unimaginable. I'm skeptical they Alethkar doesn't have anything above 12%.

[maxal]

It depends. He didn't drink that fast and he had some food, he might also be able to tolerate more liquor considering how he drinks relatively often. It's not unimaginable. I'm skeptical they Alethkar doesn't have anything above 12%.

 

I guess you are right. It is just we have been seeing so many lighteyes casually drinking purple wine it leads to think it is similar to wine. We should ask Brandon.

[FeatherWriter]

Ah, I actually did a little bit of text research on this one for a friend who needed a fanfic reference a while ago. 
 
For one, there are alcoholic beverages other than wine on Roshar, it's just that the Alethi like wine a lot. We get mentions of lavis beer, lavis ale, mudbeer, and Horneater lagers (which are apparently powerful enough to melt cups).
 

Szeth-son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar, sat on the wooden tavern floor, lavis beer slowly soaking through his brown trousers.
--I-3, Way of Kings

To Kal’s left was one of Hearthstone’s taverns, where lavis ale and mudbeer flowed in abundance during winter weeks.
--Ch. 25, Way of Kings]

“Enough arguing,” Moash said to Rock, Lopen, and Peet. “We’re going to the Ornery Chull.”
 
“Aw!” Rock said. “But they do not have Horneater lagers!”

“That’s because Horneater lagers melt your teeth,” Moash said.

[...]

“Horneater lager?” Rock asked hopefully, looking at Ka.

 

“It melts our cups,” she said. “Ale?”

 

“Ale,” Rock said with a sigh. “Th is thing should be a drink for women,

not for large Horneater men. At least he is not wine.”

--Ch. 46, Words of Radiance

 

We also know that there are grapes on Roshar, as multiple characters use metaphors involving them as well as Nohadon, who specifically mentions a plate of grapes in one of his stories. It stands to reason that there are some wines that are made with grapes, the way we make most wine here.

 

“‘For my answer,’” Dalinar quoted, “‘I removed my sandals and proffered my callused feet. They were comfortable upon the table beside my half-consumed tray of grapes."

--Ch. 58 Way of Kings

[Curiosity]

But their "wine" we are thinking of is made from other fruits, not grapes, according to Brandon*. 

Edited June 25, 2014 by Curiosity

[HoidsRock]

I wonder if "the purple" is made from grapes (~15% ABV) and the others are made from other fruits.

 

And into the list of alcoholic beverages must go Zahel's drink, hard honu, "a type of lavis grain liquor" (WoR chap 81).  I am assuming that this is what happens when instead of making lavis beer or ale, you distill it into a kind of lavis whiskey.