In ancient times it was considered unacceptable in Georgia to sit at a table with weapons. As you know, this rule was in force until the beginning of the 20th century. Tamada before giving rise to the feast, resembled the men sitting there - "take off your arms," and the first example was given by himself. All were obliged to follow this instruction, and sit at the table feasting without weapons.
Until the end of the feast, the elder man of the family reliably stored the guests' weapons. If someone wanted to sit at a table with weapons, he was reminded that he violated the rules of hospitality, and he was forced either to obey the general rules, or to quit the feast. Obviously, this custom comes from the ancient traditions of hospitality of our people, which ensured the peaceful end of the feast.
In ancient times, a person late for a table was not forced to drink wine, on the contrary, they gave complete freedom. And now we have become the rule of drinking for an late (come) guest. Tamada and the members of the table drink for the toast, the guest is obliged to take the proposed drink, and drink it, "fined himself." Only after that he joins the table, and becomes a full member of the feast.
Neglect of the Georgian choral and individual songs and dances at the Georgian feast itself contributed to the "drinking", as, as we know, in the old days long time consumed Georgian drinking songs and dances took a long time. The degree of wine was calculated for the duration of the song and dance. Unfortunately, sometimes the toast of today's feast or mourning table is no different. Such a person can only drink a lot, and getting others to drink, which can be said, means neglecting Georgian traditional customs.
To drink wine at the table started with small glasses. These glasses are still called wine glasses today. The body had to get used to alcohol. A distinct vessel (kantsi from the horn of a bull or an arch in mountainous Georgia and the plain, "marani" and "kula" in the plain and plateau of the regions of southeastern Georgia) drank only individual, outstanding toasts. Fill the vessel to the end was ugly (this is an insult to the wine and himself). The golden rule is to pour a quarter of the volume into a large vessel, and into a small vessel the third part. It should be noted that in the past, alcoholic beverages were drunk by those who could drink it. Drinking wine was a voluntary desire, not compulsion.
According to the researcher of the Georgian feast Geghi Kokiashvili, today the above-mentioned tradition in some cases has become absolutely unjustified and distorted. So, for example, to drink one toast with different glasses, from a vessel of different sizes (bottles, decanter, pialas, etc.), which then because of the inability to control the drunk and itself, grows into an unjustified competition, loses its characteristic for such a table, and goes into drunkenness. It is entirely acceptable to pour a drink into a glass by the so-called. Kakheti (Kardenah) rule, which prevents Bacchus lovers from drinking excess wine.
