A story of how the porron came to be.
Everything has a history, so why not explore one of Spain’s most popular drinking tools - the porron. With its ability to jet stream wine or beer into your mouth from the air with the greatest of ease, the porron is one of the most show stopping ways to drink libations these days. So that got us thinking, how did a gadget like this even come to exist?
In order to find out, we’re hopping on the magic school bus back in time to when wine first arrived and humans needed cups to drink it with.
ANCIENT EGYPTIANS GOT IT STARTED
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According to archaeological evidence, we have Ancient Egypt to thank for creating one of the earliest forms of grape wine. Due to the area’s mediterranean like climate, the Ancient Egyptians had a thriving grape cultivation along the Nile. Culturally, they even worshiped several Gods of Wine and the importance of this beverage has been depicted in many of their drawings.
Wine in Ancient Egypt was a luxury item, mostly consumed and created by the elite for fun times at parties. These royals and their friends would drink wine via challases, carafe or small decorative cups.
ANCIENT ROMANS MADE IT INTERESTING
Now fast forward to the Ancient Roman times, when Romans took drinking vino to the next level.
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Creating what we’ll call the ‘grandfather’ of the porron, the rhyton, the Romans invented a long cone-ish shaped cup in which wine was meant to be drank from. Some rhytons had an opening at the bottom for liquid to pass through, some did not and were meant to be used more like the traditional cup. Either way, this was not something you could easily set down without spilling everything.
SPANIARDS MADE IT PRACTICAL
From the evolution of the rhyton, we now get the porron. The porron began in Catalonia, Spain and is essentially the rhyton 2.0. It has spout for pouring, a pitcher for standing, and a cap for storing.
This spanish drinking vessel, similar to the Ancient Egyptians and Romans, was said to be created in order to share wine with a group of friends and started out as clay in order to keep the wine cool. Later on it became glass and in present times it can be used to drink rose and beer, along with wine.
To understand the present, we must look to the past. Thanks to its predecessors the porron came to be. Now that you know its history, we hope you can enjoy your next drink from a porron that much more.
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