In
the cafes I had feasted well. I had had verr meat, cut in
chunks and threaded on a metal rod, with slices of peppers
and larma, and roasted; vulo stew with raisins, nuts, onions
and honey; a kort with melted cheese and nutmeg; hot Bazi
tea, sugared and later, Turian wine.
---Tribesmen of Gor
, p 48
Gorean
Brews
Ale
...
Made from grains and hops that were brought to Gor during
the acquisition voyages,
Gorean Ale is closer to a honey lager than to an Earth ale
or beer. Its color is deep and golden. Traditionally
kept in a cask or a keg and served in a tankard.
The
Forkbeard himself now, from a wooden keg, poured a great
tankard of ale, which must have been of the measure of five
gallons. Over this he then closed his fist. It was the sign
of the hammer, the sign of Thor. The tankard then, with
two great bronze handles, was passed from hands to hands
among the rowers. The men threw back their heads and, the
liquid spilling down their bodies, drank ale. It was the
victory ale.
---Marauders of Gor
, p 82
The
Forkbeard greets you! shouted Ivar. I blinked. The
hall was light. I had not understood it to be so large.
At the tables, lifting ale and knives to the Forkbeard were
more than a thousand men.
---Marauders
of Gor, p 194
Mead
...
A dark amber drink of the Northern parts of Gor, brewed
from honey and water.
In
the north generally, mead, a drink made with fermented honey
and water, and often spices and such, tends to be favored
over paga.
---Vagabonds
of Gor, p 16
Traditionally
served warmed, in a horn...
'Here
Jarl, said Thyri, again handing me the horn. It was filled
with the mead of Torvaldsland, brewed from fermented, honey,
thick and sweet.
---Marauders of Gor, p 90
a
cup...
Bera
went to the next man, to fill his cup with the mead,
from the heavy hot tankard, gripped with cloth, which she
carried.
---Marauders of Gor, p 78
This
last quote would seem to indicate that mead is served warmed,
one would suppose it is kept in a heating vessel over the
fires and then poured into the mentioned tankards for carrying
and serving.
Rence
beer ...
Brewed from the pith of the rence plant, it is a drink of
the rence growers of the Delta of the Vosk.
At
such times there is drinking of rence beer, steeped, boiled
and fermented from the crushed seeds and the whitish pith
of the plant.
---Raiders of Gor
, p 18
Gor-lite
Juice
...
Gorean fruits of course, tospit, larma and other
fruits.
Milk
...
Fresh milk of the bosk, the verr, and sometimes even the
kaiila.
When
the meat was ready, Kamchak ate his fill, and drank down,
too, a flagon of bosk milk
---Nomads of Gor
, p 139
...
kaiila milk, like verr milk, is used by the peoples of
the Tahari; it is reddish and has a strong salty taste,
features which one supposes are connected with some sort
of climatological adaptation; it has a high iron content;
men do not drink it unless water is plentiful;
---Tribesmen of Gor, 4:
Water
...
The availability of drinking water and the way it is obtained
varies depending on the area, culture and available ressources
and technology. We see wells in the Tahari desert, aqueducs
in Cities, buckets filled at the river shore in forest
camps, and as many other ways to obtain water as earth
has.
Another
useful source of water is the liana vine. One makes the
first cut high, over one's head, to keep the water from
being withdrawn by contraction and surface adhesion up
the vine. The second cut, made a foot or so from the ground,
gives a vine tube which, drained, yields in the neighborhood
of a liter of water.
---Explorers of Gor
, p 311
Hot
Cups
Bazi tea
...
There is no specific reference as to what exactly Bazi
tea compares to. It is made in a small copper pot, using
two measured ounces of the precious leaves. Note
that Bazi tea is expensive and handled as such.
Once brewed, the pot will be set to a silver tray with
three small glass cups, It will be poured into the cups
at the guest's feet.
Tea
is extremely important to the nomads. It is served hot
and highly sugared. It gives strength then, in virtue
of the sugar, and cools them, by making them sweat, as
well as stimulating them. It is drunk three small cups
at a time, carefully measured.
---Tribesmen of Gor, p 38
The service of
tea
Is
it ready? I asked. I looked at the tiny copper kettle
on the small stand. A tiny kaiila dung fire burned under
it. A small, heavy, curved glass was nearby, on a flat
box, which would hold some two ounces of the tea. Bazi
tea is drunk in tiny glasses, usually three at a time,
carefully measured. She did not make herself tea, of course...
She lifted the kettle from the fire and, carefully, poured
me a tiny glass of tea.
---Tribesmen of Gor, p 139
Blackwine
...
Made from beans brought back to Gor during the early acquisition
voyages and grown in the mountain of Thentis, Blackwine
is Gor's equivalent of earth's coffee in its most potent
form, perhaps only Espresso comes close to the strong
taste described.
I
had heard of black wine, but had never had any. It is
drunk in Thentis, but I had never heard of it being much
drunk in other Gorean cities...Then I picked up one of
the thick, heavy clay bowls...It was extremely strong,
and bitter, but it was hot, and, unmistakably, it was
coffee.
---Assassins of Gor, p 106
Typically, it
will be brewed on a tiny brazier, and poured into tiny
cup. Sugars, white and yellow, bosk and verr creams are
stirred in with a tiny spoon. At times, the milk may be
found in powder form.
Too,
I had brought up a small bowl of powdered bosk milk. We
had finished the creams last night and, in any event,
it was unlikely they would have lasted the night. If I
had wanted creams I would have had to have gone to the
market.
---Guardsman of Gor
, p 295
Traditionally,
one would add 4 tiny spoonfuls of white sugar and 6 tiny
spoonfuls of yellow sugar.
There
is much confusion about the request for "blackwine,
first slave or second slave"
Many insist that the first slave command means the blackwine
is to be sweetened and creamed, whereas the second slave
command indicates the blackwine is to be served black.
Then again, many insist it is to be the other way around.
Truth is few would dare to drink this brew without adding
anything to it. With the potency and strength of the
Gorean blackwine, the rush might be an interesting one.
What
then, of the different interpretations ?
The
readers finds, on various occasions, blackwine served
by two
slaves with different roles. Let us look at a few.
From
one side a slave girl, barefoot, bangled, in sashed,
diaphanous, trousered chalwar, gathered at the ankles,
in tight, red silk vest, with bare midriff, fled to
Him, with the tall, graceful, silvered pot containing
the black wine. She was veiled. She knelt, replenishing
the drink. Beneath the veil I saw the metal of
her collar.
I had not thought to have such fortune. She did
not look at me. She returned to her place with
the pot of black wine.
Ibn
Saran lifted another finger. From the side there
hastened to him another girl, a fair skinned, red haired
girl. She, too, wore veil, vest, chalwar, bangles,
collar. She carried a tray, on which were various
spoons and sugars. She knelt, placing her tray
on the table. With a tiny spoon, its tip no more
than a tenth of hort in diameter, she placed four measures
of white sugar, and six of yellow, in the cup; with
two stirring spoons, one for the white sugar, another
for the yellow, she stirred the beverage after each
measure. She then held the cup to the side of her cheek,
testing its temperature; Ibn Saran glanced at her; she,
looking at him, timidly kissed the side of the cup and
placed it before him. Then, her head down, she withdrew.
---Tribesmen of Gor, pp 88 and 89
The
serve on p 105 of the same book shows again the first
slave pouring the black wine and the second one bringing
the sugars and creams. Why then....would one
use the term "second slave" to describe the
absence of cream and sugars? That second slave
clearly brought the sugars and creams.
The
answer and explanation to the source of the dual interpretation
lies in the later books of John Norman's Chronicles
of the Counter Earth.
Blackwine,
from the early days of Tarl Cabot's journeys into the
counter earth, was said to be a rare, expensive and
rather exclusive product of well guarded fields on the
slopes of Thentis. It was said that only in Thentis
could one find this delicacy and that the only way another
City could serve it was by acquiring the beans from
thieves. As time passes and the reader is carried
across the pasangs to the various lands and Cities,
he will note blackwine seems to become part of the Gorean
way in even the remotest areas. And so if the
earlier writings seem to point to the use of two slaves
of which the second carried the creams and sugars, reading
onto the later books allows us to see how the "second
slave" command was introduced.
'Second
slave,' I told her, which, among the river towns, and
in certain cities, particularly in the north, is a way
of indicating that I would take the black wine without
creams or sugars, and as it came from the pouring vessel,
which, of course, in these areas, is handled by the
"second slave," the first slave being the
girl who puts down the cups, takes the orders and sees
that the beverage is prepared according to the preferences
of the one who is being served.
The
expression "second slave," incidentally, serves
to indicate that one does not wish creams or sugars
with one's black wine, even if only one girl is serving.
---Guardsman of Gor, pp 244-245
Note
that although in the earlier books the reader is shown
a service of blackwine by two slaves in which the first
slave brings the blackwine, never is this service refered
to as "fisrt slave" or "second slave".
There is then no two ways to serve "second slave"
blackwine, since only one of these ways is actually
called "second slave". Also, note that
nowhere is there reference to anything actually called
"fist slave serve".
Chocolate
...
Creamy and warm, from cocoa beans grown in the tropic
This
is warmed chocolate," I said, pleased. It was very
rich and creamy. "Yes, Mistress," said the girl.
"It is very good," I said. "Thank you,
Mistress," she said. "Is it from Earth?"
I asked. "Not directly," she said. "Many
things here, of course, ultimately have an Earth origin.
It is not improbable that the beans from which the first
cacao trees on this world were grown were brought from
Earth." "Do the trees grow near here?"
I asked. "No Mistress," she said, "we obtain
the beans from which the chocolate is made, from Cosian
merchants, who in turn, obtain them in the tropics.
---Kajira of Gor
, p 61
Pleasure
Sa-Paga
...
The words Pagar-Sa-Tarna ( Sa-Paga) mean "pleasure
of the life-daughter". Paga, the symbol of
physical love, is an undistilled amber colored alcoholic
beverage made from the golden sa-tarna grain. Its taste
is often described as "hot" and "firey".
a
strong, fermented drink brewed from the yellow grains
of Gor's staple crop, Sa-Tarna
---Outlaw of Gor
, p 74
The service of
Paga
Stored in vats,
verr skin botas, bottles or bronze vessels
...
In
most taverns no bottle is brought to the table but the
paga is brought to the table, by the paga slave, a cup
at a time, the cups normally being filled from a vat
behind the counter.
---Explorers of Gor, p 158
He
leaned over and tossed me a skin bag of Paga
---Tarnsman
of Gor, p 78
...
to the proprietor of the paga tavern, and took in return
one of the huge bottles of paga, of the sort you put in
a pouring sling...
---Raiders
of Gor, p 111
Paga!
called the standing man. Paga! A blonde girl, nude, with
a string of pearls wound about her steel collar, ran to
the table and, from the bronze vessel, on its strap, about
her shoulder, poured paga into the goblet before the seated
man.
---Rogue
of Gor, p 78
Drunk directly
from the bota, or poured as shown below, into goblets,
pots, cups, glasses or kantharos
(footed bowls) ...
Many
civilians, I believe, do not know why certain warriors,
by habit, request their paga in metal goblets when dining
in public houses."
---Renegades of Gor
, p 77
I
decided, if worse came to worst, that I could always go
to a simple Paga Tavern where, if those of Tharna resembled
those of Ko-ro-ba and AR, one might, curled in a rug behind
the low tables, unobtrusively spend the night for the
price of a pot of Paga, a strong, fermented drink brewed
from the yellow grains of Gor's staple crop, Sa-Tarna,
or Life-Daughter.
---Outlaw
of Gor, p 74
Samos
put down a cup of paga.
---Raiders
of Gor, p 306
The
beast returned from the cabinet with two glasses and a
bottle.
---Beasts
of Gor, p 371
She
knelt near the table... and put the paga, in a
small kantharos
---Renegades
of Gor, p 71
NOTE on kantharos
(refered to through most of John Norman's writings simply
as a 'footed bowl' and much used for the drinking of Paga
and wine) : Also spelled Cantharos, drinking cup in Attic
Greek pottery from the period of the red-figure and black-figure
styles. The kantharos is in the form of a deep cup, with
loop-shaped handles arising from the bottom of the body
and extending high above the brim. Designed for the drinking
of wine, this shape was extremely popular in Etruria and
was exported to areas around the Mediterranean in the
late 7th and 6th centuries B.C. Usually made of clay or
a more expensive metal. Etruscan graves have yielded hundreds
of kantheroi, along with many other ceramic vessels intended
for eating and drinking, as part of funeral feasts or
as tomb offerings.
ref; Encyclopaedia Britannica
It is often
served warm, even hot...
`Your
paga,' said the nude slave girl, who served me, her wrists
chained. `It is warmed as you wished.' I took it from
her, not even glancing upon her, and drained the goblet...
I liked paga warm. One felt is so much the sooner that
way.
---Raiders of Gor, p 100
The
girls filled their vessels, which, like the hydria, or
water vessel, are high-handled, for dipping, in a large
kettle hung simmering over a fire near the entrance to
the enclosure. Warm paga makes one drunk quicker,
it is thought... Some Cosians tend to be fond of hot paga.
---Vagabonds of Gor
, p 16
NOTE: This last
quote has value to the reader in more than the fact that
it tells her about the different temperatures Paga is
served at, it also, describes the manner in which Paga
is warmed. In tis particular establishment, the girls
used deep high handled vessels which they dipped into
the large kettles to fill.
Sul- Paga
...
Made from the golden vine borne vegetable called "sul"
(resembles an earth potato), Sul-Paga is a distilled,
clear alcoholic beverage. It is typically drunk by peasants
and seldom available outside their villages.
Sul
paga is, when distilled, though the sul itself is yellow,
is as clear as water
---Slave Girl of Gor
, p 134
Sul
paga, as anyone knew, is seldom available outside of a
peasant village, where it is brewed. Sul paga would slow
a thalarion. To stay on your feet after a mouthful of
Sul paga it is said one must be of the peasants, and then
for several generations. And even then, it is said, it
is difficult to manage. There is a joke about the baby
of a peasant father being born drunk nine months later.
---Slave
Girl of Gor, p 414
Liqueurs
...
The
liqueurs of Turia are usually regarded as the best, but
I think this is largely a matter of taste. Those of Cos
and Ar, and of certain other cities, are surely very fine.
---Kajira of Gor, p 406
First
from the kitchen, bearing her tray, came the voluptuous
slave of Aemilianuus. Behind her, too with her tray, came
the little dark-haired slave. In a moment both were deferentially
serving. The collared softness of the dark-haired girl
well set off the the metal of the tray, and the small
multicolored glasses and bottles upon it.
---Guardsman
of Gor, p 254
fermented
milk curds
...
Drunk by Tuchuks,
made from bosk milk and very potent. it would be served
in a bowl. No actual description is found in the
books, simply mention of it.
By
one fire I could see a squat Tuchuk, hands on his hips,
dancing and stamping about by himself, drunk on fermented
milk curds, dancing, according to Kamchak, to please the
sky.
---Nomads of Gor, p 28
The
Gorean Cellar
Falarian
...
Not specifically
described, this wine is mentioned but once or twice, as
a rare and expensive wine.
Among
these petitioners came one fellow bringing with him the
promise of a gift of wine, a wine supposedly secret, the
rare Falarian, a wine only rumored among collectors to
exist, a wine supposedly so rare and precious that its
cost might purchase a city.
---Mercenaries of Gor
, 15:158
"There
will be delicacies from as far away as Bazi and Anango,"
she said, "and we shall open vessels of Falarian
from the private stores of the Ubar."
---Magicians of Gor
, 9:
Ka-la-na
...
Made from the fruit of the Ka-la-na tree, Ka-la-na is
a dry red wine stored in bottles that bear the wax seal
of the City it came from. As with most wines of Earth,
Ka-la-na had various levels of quality, a few of which
are specifically mentioned, the best Ka-la-na is said
to be from Ar, Gor's prime source of this wine.
'A
small bottle,' I said, 'of the Slave Gardens of Anesidemus.'
'I have heard that it is a marvellous ka-la-na.' said
the free woman, her eyes alight.
'So too, have I,' I said.
'It is very expensive,' said the woman.
'Are you familiar with it?' I asked.
'Oh,' she said lightly, 'I have had it a few times.'
...
'Oh, it is marvellous ka-la-na,' she purred. I gathered
that she had never before had such ka-la-na. True, it
might run the buyer as much as three copper tarsks, a
price for which some women can be purchased.
---Mercenaries of Gor, 25:345
Do
you know the wine? I asked.
No, she said.
I turned the bottle so that she might read the label.
It was a small bottle of Boleto's Nectar of the Public
Slave Gardens. Boleto is a well-known winegrower from
the vicinity of Ar. He is famous for the production of
a large number of reasonably good medium-grade ka-la-nas.
This was one of the major wines, and perhaps the best,
served in Ar's public slave gardens: indeed, it had originally
been comissioned for that market: hence the name.
---Mercenaries of Gor, 25:360
It
is also said to have 'warming' effects on females.
The
guards had liked us, muchly, and had apparently expected
that they would for, to our delight, they had purchased
a small bottle of Ka-la-na wine, in a wicker basket, which
they had permitted us, swallow by swallow, to share. I
had never tasted so rich and delicate a wine on Earth,
and yet here, on this world, it cost only a copper tarn
disk and was so cheap, and plentiful, that it might be
given even to a female slave. I remembered each of the
four swallows which I had had. I tasted them even still,
with the meat and bread which I had eaten. It was the
first Gorean fermented beverage which I had tasted. It
is said that Ka-la-na has an unusual effect on a female.
I think it is true.
---Captive of Gor
, 8:
Considered
to be the symbol of romantic love, Ka-la-na is served
hot, cold, or warm.
Like wines of earth, Ka-la-na is served in a goblet, warmed
Ka-la-na however is seen served in the Gorean enameled
trimmed clay bowl also called crater.
I
turned and, among the furnishings of the tent, found a
bottle of Ka-la-na, of good vintage, from the vineyards
of Ar, the loot of a caravan raid. I then took the wine,
with a small copper bowl, and a black, red-rimmed wine
crater, to the side of the fire.
---Captive of Gor. p 331
Tne
quote below might lead one to believe indeed some Ka-la-na
was white, although the word incandescent could very well
refer to a quality in the clarity of the wine rather than
its actual color.
After
the meal I tasted the drink, which might not inappropriately
be described as an almost incandescent wine, bright, dry,
and powerful. I learned later it was called ka-la-na
---Tarnsman of Gor
. p 22-23
The
fact remains that quote after quote after quote describes
Ka-la-na as red.
...and
drops of a red, winelike drink made from the fruit of
the Ka-la-na tree.
---Tarnsman of Gor, p 68
I
went to his locker near the mat and got out his Ka-la-na
flask, taking a long draught myself and then shoving it
into his hands. He drained the flask in one drink and
wiped his hand across his beard, stained with the red
juice of the fermented drink.
---Tarnsman
of Gor, p 168
"But
that sort of thing is behind me now," she said to
me, throwing back her head and quaffing deeply of the
ruby-red Ka-la-na in her cup.
---Rogue of Gor
, 20:
It
has been said by many that a misunderstanding occurred
from the frequent reference to "golden ka-lana"
in the books, when the author speaks of the Ka-la-na tree. This
golden color then refers only to the color of the wood
or trees.
The
Ka-la-na thicket was yellow in the distance...
---Slave Girl of Gor, p 250
Kal-da
...
A mixture of usually cheap Ka-la-na, mulling spices and
citrus juice.
Heated in a brewing pot over the fires, Kal-da is ladled
into pots or bowls.
Kal-da
is a hot drink, almost scalding, made of diluted Ka-la-na
wine, mixed with citrus juices and stinging spices.
I did not care much for this mouth-burning concoction,
but it was popular with some of the lower castes, particularly
those who performed strenuous manual labor.
I expected its popularity was due more to its capacity
to warm a man and stick to his ribs, and to its cheapness
(a poor grade of Ka-la-na wine being used in its brewing)
than to any gustatory excellence. Moreover, where there
was Kal-da there should be bread and meat. I thought of
the yellow Gorean bread, baked in the shape of round,
flat loaves, fresh and hot; My mouth watered for a tabuk
steak or, perhaps, if I were lucky, a slice of roast tarsk,
the formidable six tusked wild boar of Gor`s temperate
forests.
---Outlaw of Gor, p 76
Even
the proprietor slept, his head across his folded arms
on the counter, behind which stood the great Kal-da brewing
pots, at last empty and cold.
---Outlaw of Gor, p 80
Other
girls now appeared among the tables, clad only in a camisk
and a silver collar, and suddenly, silently, began to
serve the Kal-da which Kron had ordered. Each carried
a heavy pot of the foul, boiling brew and, cup by cup,
replenished the cups of the men.
---Outlaw of Gor, p 226
Palm
wine
...
Is mentioned in Explorers of Gor as being one of the exports
of Schendi, no description given other than the fact it
is quite tasty.
"One
of her most delicious exports is palm wine."
---Explorers of Gor, p115
Slavewine
...
The terms slavewine, breading wone and second wine, are
used in reference to mixtures used in birth control. There
are two mixtures of slave wine. The first type, is meant
to prevent pregnancy whereas the second type is called
"breeding wine" and is given to a girl to counteract
the effect the slavewine, when her Master wishes to breed
her. Slavewine is discussed on the
Medicine page.
Ta-wine
...
A dry wine made from the ta-grapes grown primarily on
the Isle of Cos.
One
girl held our head back, and others, from goblets, gave
us of wines, Turian wine, sweet and thick, Ta wine, from
the famed Ta grapes, from the terraces of Cos, wines even,
Ka-la-nas, sweets and dry, from distant Ar
---Tribesmen of Gor, p 213
Turian
wine
...
A thick syrupy wine so sweet and thick that is it said
one can see a thumbprint on its surface.
I
did not much care for the sweet, syrupy wines of Turia,
flavored and sugared to the point where one could almost
leave one's fingerprint on their surface.
---Nomads of Gor, p 84
White
wine
...
Light in color and taste, note that it is not referred
to as Ka-la-na, simply wine.
In
the hall was a open circle of small tables, at which a
handful of guests, on cushions and mats, reclined. There
were four men and two women at these tables, other than
the Lady Florence, the hostess, and her guest of the past
several days, the Lady Metpomene. The tables were covered
with cloths of glistening white and a service of gold.
Before each guest there were tiny slices of tospit and
larma, small pastries, and in a tiny golden cup,
with a small golden spoon, the clustered, black, tiny
eggs of the white grunt. The first wine, a light white
wine, was being deferentially served by Pamela and Bonnie.
---Fighting Slave of Gor
, pp 275-276
Recap...
What a search
through the writings of Norman teach the reader is that
although botas are commonly used to store drinking supplies
in times of travel, so are gourds and flagons. In everyday
use thought, most brews come in kegs, other beverages
come in bottles, and are stored in these bottles until
ready to serve or warm, if appropriate, in brewing pots
for mixing (such as for Kal-da) or simply large kettles
for heating (as for Paga or Mead). Wine it would seem,
is heated in single servings, at the time of the request
for it. The serving of heated wine is explicitly in the
"serving" page.
Serving of brewed
or heated drinks, is done by either filling the vessel
from the brewing pot or kettle directly, by sinking the
serving vessel to the pot or ladling... or carried to
masters in a serving tankard.
Serving of wine
or other unheated drinks, would also be done by filling
single vessels or bringing the bottle itself, in a sling
type carrier, to the tables.
The vessels used
for the different drinks are not quite as specific as
some would like to think. Norman shows Ale served in tankards,
Mead in horns, wine in goblets... and Paga served in about
any possible vessel available, from drinking it directly
from the bota to the use of stone encrusted goblets. There
seems to be consistency in the fact that hot drinks are
served in bowls however, with the exception of course,
of blackwine, tea and hot chocolate... for those, cups
are mentioned.