Sekanjabin

Honey, vinegar, and fresh mint — the Persian oxymel Ibn Sina documented in the 10th–11th century, served cold with cucumber in Iranian summers since then.

Sekanjabin is among the oldest named beverages in the Persian culinary tradition, with documented references stretching back over two thousand years to classical Persian literature and medical texts. The name derives from the Persian components sirka (vinegar) and angabin (honey), directly describing the drink's two primary ingredients — a composition that places it in the broader category of oxymel preparations (vinegar-and-honey mixtures) that were used medicinally across ancient Greek, Roman, Persian, and Arab medical traditions. Ibn Sina (Avicenna), the 10th-11th century Persian physician and philosopher whose Canon of Medicine became the standard medical reference in both Islamic and European medical traditions for centuries, documented sekanjabin as a digestive aid and fever remedy. Arab medical writers of the medieval period reproduced and elaborated on these references. The preparation creates a concentrated syrup by simmering honey and vinegar with water and optional aromatics, which is then diluted with water to serve. Contemporary Iranian sekanjabin is typically served cold in summer with grated cucumber — whose cooling properties complement the vinegar-honey base in the traditional Persian medical framework — and the drink's association with summer hospitality in Iran represents a continuity of preparation from at least the 10th century to the present.