The Water of Life

I find it of interest that aqua vitae is never actually aqua. For those of you lacking in Latin, aqua vitae translates to “water of life.” From all of my nutritional education and bottled water commercials, I would be inclined to believe that the water of life is water, but it’s not. Rather, it’s moonshine; or at least the equivalent of it.

I mention this some days after our second “wine and dine” of the semester. Not quite as delicious as our first one; this time we had two merlots, one fermented in steel barrels, one aged in oak, and a lovely chicken salad for a starter with lamb for the main course. It was all very good, and I learned I preferred my wine aged in oak for the flavor. None of this matters quite as much as the dessert.

Grappa. My old friend; the remnants of the winemaking process distilled to create a very powerful liquor. The majority of the group has only heard of grappa, murmurings and warnings before the trip, most from our Italian professor. Grappa acquired an “urban myth” status in many ways; the mysterious liquid from Italy that would burn your throat away or make your eyeballs explode, or something equally horrible. I was slightly more prepared, having experienced grappa in appropriately controlled situations before. Which really only meant that I poured my grappa over the grape gelato, and realized it wasn’t half bad.

Of course, experience doesn’t change the fact that grappa is extremely strong, the Italian version of aqua vitae. I remember hearing this phrase a number of times throughout my life, and only recently has it all connected; aqua vitae is one of those great cross-cultural concepts that helps to define a culture. For the Italians: grappa, made from the grapes after they’ve been pressed for wine, and super concentrated. Up in the British Isles whisky appears; the word “whisky” comes from the Gaelic for “water of life”, so it’s pretty easy to see the connection there. Off to the east is Russia and vodka, which derives from the Russian for “water”. Whisky and Vodka are some of the most recognizable icons of their home countries, and I have no doubts that if the wine wasn’t so good Grappa would be more well-known.

However, I don’t have the time or the energy right now to get into a research project about this, but I keep wondering about this pretty widespread phenomenon of aqua vitae.

Just a few thoughts for me to consider as I wander along. I’m off again in the morning. It’s spring break, and I’ll be in Prague for a week, spending time with non-Tech people. Should be a good adventure, off in a city where I have absolutely no idea how to speak the language, or even the foundations, and virtually on my own. I’m terribly excited, but still not packed.