The Middle East , despite the strictures against consuming alcohol that have prevailed in the region since the coming of Islam in the 600s, has a long and distinguished history of distilling alcohol. It may in fact be the cradle of distilling, as Bronze Age pots capable of producing spirits found in Mesopotamia suggest, although this cannot be proved. In the first and second centuries ce, however, Alexandria, Egypt, was a well-documented center for alchemical research, and that included distillation—the first well-documented appearance of it in the West. While the alchemists doing the experimenting were primarily focused on the creation of essential oils and perfumes and the desalinization of water, and not on producing alcoholic beverages, there was nonetheless some basic work done on distilling wine. It is unknown if this was an independent development or if it was influenced by the tradition of distillation in South Asia. See distillation, history.
With the Islamic conquest, the Alexandrian knowledge of distillation then moved eastward to modern-day Iran and Iraq, greatly assisted by Arabic and Syriac translations of Greek scientific works. Cities such as Baghdad and Tabriz became centers of chemical experimentation. In Kufa, the polymath Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan (ca. 721–ca. 815), known in the West as Geber, and his school did a good deal of work with the pot still; from their name for the still head, al-ambiq, we derive “alembic.” See still, pot. Likewise, the term “alcohol” is derived from the Arab alchemical term, al-kohl, used for the most refined essence of a substance. But again, this technology was mainly used for distillation of things such as perfumes and petroleum products.
Islamic prohibitions on the consumption of alcoholic beverages did not completely prevent the rise of a culture of spirits production and drinking in the Middle East. For one thing, the region has never been ethnically or religiously homogenous, and there were plenty of Christians and Jews to whom alcohol was not forbidden. Moreover, not all Muslims have always been strictly observant, just as not all Christians or other believers have been. Indeed, the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence, as followed by the Ottoman Turks and the Mughals of India, made room for moderate use of alcoholic beverages that were not wine, as not being explicitly forbidden by the Qur’an. The “moderate use” part was often interpreted loosely.
By the 1400s we read about ‘araq (literally, “sweat” in Arabic) being produced in the region. One of the most protean of spirit terms, in the Middle East ‘araq is traditionally applied to a spirit distilled from grapes (sometimes in the form of raisins or pomace) or dates and flavored with local anise. The precise origins of this spirit have not been established, but it was being exported to Venice and Genoa by the 1400s, and in subsequent centuries European travelers in Ottoman lands, which encompassed all but the Persian part of the Middle East, found its production, often by Jews or Christians, widespread, if small in scale, and its consumption an open secret. See arrack.
As the region industrialized during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, secularization followed, spirits production increased, and consumption moved into the open. This occurred both in the parts of the region that had been colonized by Europe and the parts, such as Turkey and Iran, that remained independent. By the middle of the twentieth century, Turkey was making large amounts of raki, its version of arrack, from grapes and also from beet sugar. It was also making a good deal of vodka, as was Iran—before the Iranian Revolution of 1978, there were eight producers, with brands such as Sultanie, Pirouzeh, and Pakdis (this was not perhaps the best quality spirit available: in 1945, the Today, while Iranians still make a good deal of bootleg aragh, the only countries in the region that produce significant amounts of sprits are Turkey, Israel, and Lebanon. Even as Turkey has grown more religiously conservative, it has seen a proliferation of brands of raki. Israel has seen a boom in its alcohol industry. With Judaism having a long association with fermentation and distillation and Israel so isolated from its neighbors, it has long produced wine, and recently has seen several micro-distilleries being launched, which produce vodka and whisky. The Christian parts of Lebanon and Syria have traditionally produced a high-quality, artisanal arak, pot-distilled from wine and pomace, flavored with local anise (much of the Mediterranean has switched to Chinese star anise) and aged in clay. The Lebanese version, at least, is currently enjoying something of a renaissance. See arrack and raki. The Middle East has never been at the epicenter of mixology—arrack is usually drunk mixed with water, or at most water and ice—but the region has seen exceptions. While international hotels in most parts of the region have maintained cocktail bars since the end of the nineteenth century, few have risen to greatness. One shining exception is the bar at Shepheard’s Hotel, Cairo, world famous in the first half of the twentieth century; during the Second World War, barman Joe Scialom invented the famous Suffering Bastard there. See Scialom, Joseph. Another wartime invention was the Screwdriver, made by American oilmen working in the region. See Screwdriver. The modern cocktail renaissance has seen new, cutting-edge bars established in Istanbul, Beirut, and Tel Aviv, while the luxury hotels found in the United Arab Emirates have often drawn their inspiration, and their personnel, from the showiest of new London bars. Forbes, R. J. A Short History of the Art of Distillation. Leiden: Brill, 1948. Huetz de Lemps, Alain. Boissons et civilizations en Afrique. Pessac, France: Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux, 2001. Morewood, Samuel. A Philosophical and Statistical History … of Inebriating Liquors. Dublin: 1838. By: Angus Winchester and David Wondrich The American bar at Istanbul’s Pera Palace Hotel, touted in this 1931 advertisement, was one of the great scenes of intrigue and romance of the early twentieth century. Wondrich Collection.
The American bar at Istanbul’s Pera Palace Hotel, touted in this 1931 advertisement, was one of the great scenes of intrigue and romance of the early twentieth century. Source: Wondrich Collection.