Black Wine

Information
Blackwine is a coffee-like drink in Gor, although more bitter than Earth coffee. Blackwine beans only grows on slopes of Thentis and because of it, blackwine is considered as an expensive luxury on cities other than Thentis. And even in Thentis, Blackwine is commonly only consumed by High-Caste people.

Blackwine is traditionally served with sugar (yellow and white) and milk, in small cups. Term for "First slave" is meaning the one wants to drink Blackwine with cream or sugar, while "Second slave" means the one wishes Blackwine without any sugar or cream.

Quotes
"'What is that I smell?' I asked.    'Black wine,' said she, 'from the Mountains of Thentis.' 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 any of the other cities." 'Bring two bowls,' I said. 'Two?' asked the girl. 'The slave,' I said, indicating Elizabeth, 'will taste it first.' 'Of course, Master,' said the girl. 'And put bread over the fire,' I said, 'and honey, and the eggs of vulos, and fried tarsk meat and a Torian larma fruit.' The girl nodded and, rising gracefully, backing away a step or two, head down, turned and went to the kitchen. 'I have heard,' I said to Elizabeth, 'that black wine is served hot.' 'Incredible,' she smiled. In short order two bowls, steam curling out of them, were brought and placed on the table. I sat there staring down at them, and Elizabeth did, too. Then I picked up one of the thick, heavy clay bowls. Since no one was looking, we knocked the bowls together gently, and put them to our lips. It was extremely strong, and bitter, but it was hot, and, unmistakably, it was coffee."

--Assassin of Gor, page 106

"'Actually,' I said to Elizabeth, 'this is very rare. Thentis does not trade the beans for black wine. I have heard of a cup of black wine in Ar, some years ago, selling for a silver eighty-piece. Even in Thentis black wine is used commonly only in High Caste homes.'"

--Assassin of Gor, page 107

"'It was my loss,' smiled Ibn Saran, lifting to his lips a tiny, steaming cup of black wine."

Tribesman of Gor, page 88

"Ibn Saran, not taking his eyes from Alyena, lifted his finger. 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 her 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 a 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."

--Tribesman of Gor, page 93-94

"I decided I might care to taste the steaming, black wine. I lifted my finger. The girl in whose charge was the silver vessel, filled with black wine, knelt beside a tiny brazier, on which it sat, retaining its warmth. Seeing my signal, she stiffened; she hesitated. ... She rose swiftly to her feet. She knelt, head down, before me. She poured, carefully, the hot, black beverage into the tiny red cup. ... The other girl, the white-skinned, red-haired girl, also in vest, chalwar and veil, and bangles and collar, lifted her tray of spoons and sugars. But I turned away. She was not summoned. The girls, white-skinned, were a matched set of slaves, one for the black wine, one for its sugars."

---Tribesman of Gor, page 105

"The air was fresh and beautiful. Soon I smelled the frying of vulo eggs in a large, flat pan, and the unmistakable odor of coffee, or as the Goreans express it, black wine. The beans grow largely on the slopes of the Thentis mountains. The original beans, I suppose, had been brought, like certain other Gorean products, from Earth; it is not impossible, of course, that the opposite is the case, that black wine is native to Gor and that the origin of Earth's coffee beans is Gorean; I regard this as unlikely, however, because black wine is far more common on Earth than on Gor, where it is, except for the city of Thentis, a city famed for her tarn flocks, and her surrounding villages, a somewhat rare and unusual luxury."

--Slave Girl of Gor, page 76

"Eta piled several of the hot, tiny eggs, earlier kept fresh in cool sand within the cave, on a plate, with heated yellow bread, for him. I, grasping the pot with a rag and both hands, poured him a handled, metal tankard of the steaming black brew, coffee or black wine."

--Slave Girl of Gor, page 77

"She withdrew, head down. She picked up the small tray from the stand near the table. On it was the small vessel containing a thick, sweet liqueur from distant Turia, the Ar of the south, and the two tiny glasses from which we had sipped it. On the tray, too, was the metal vessel which had contained the black wine, steaming and bitter, from far Thentis, famed for its tarn flocks, the small yellow-enameled cups from which we had drunk the black wine, its spoons and sugars, a tiny bowl of mint sticks, and the softened, dampened cloths on which we had wiped our fingers."

--Explorers of Gor, page 10

"'You may serve the black wine now, in small cups, Lola,' said Miss Henderson.   'Yes, Mistress,' whispered Lola.   This was a delicacy. I had purchased some, some days ago, but we had not yet served it. In a few Ehn Lola returned with the tray, with the vessel of steaming liquid, the creams and sugars, the tiny cups, and the small spoons for mixing and measuring."

Rogue of Gor, page 132

"The two slaves, their chains removed, now returned, and began to serve the black wine. The voluptuous slave of Aemilianus, whom he had not yet named, placed the tiny silver cups, on small stands, before us. The lovely little slave in bluish gauze, whom I had not yet named, holding the narrow-spouted, silver pouring vessel in a heavy cloth, to retain its heat and protect her hands, poured the scalding, steaming black fluid, in narrow, tiny streams, into the small cups. She poured into the cups only the amount that would be compatible with the assorted sugars and creams which the guest might desire, if any, these being added in, and stirred, if, and as, pertinent, by Aemilianus' slave, who directed the serving. ... '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. ... She was extremely careful not to spill a drop. Black wine, except in the vicinity of Thentis, where most of it is grown on the slopes of the Thentis range, is quite expensive. Also, of course, clumsy slave girls are often whipped. 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, pages 244-245

"I brought up from the kitchen, where I had been keeping it hot, a vessel of black wine, with sugars, and cups and spoons. 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, page 295

"'Yes, Mistress,' I said. I took the vessel of black wine, removing it from its warmer, and put it on its tray, that already bearing the tiny cups, the creams and sugars, the spices, the napkins and spoons. I then carried the tray, with the black wine, hot and steaming, to the table and put it down there. Susan then, as 'first slave,' took the orders and did the measuring and mixing; I, as 'second slave,' did the pouring. Afterwards I returned the tray to the serving table, and the vessel of black wine to its warmer. I then joined Susan, kneeling beside her in the vicinity of the serving table."

--Kajira of Gor, page 462

"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     Book 16     Page 245

"Actually," I said to Elizabeth, "this is very rare. Thentis does not trade the beans for black wine. I have heard of a cup of black wine in Ar, some years ago, selling for a silver eighty-piece. Even in Thentis black wine is commonly only in High Caste homes."

Assassin of Gor, page 149