What is Mead?
Mead is an alcohol drink made from fermented honey and water. Often referred to as ‘honey wine’, it is in fact unlike wine, or indeed beer or cider, and completely unique.
The history of Mead
If you’re not too familiar with mead, you might picture someone like Henry VII ‘quaffing an entire flagon’ and whilst he did absolutely love the stuff, as did medieval folk before him, evidence of mead goes as far back to China 7000BC. It thrived all over, but particularly in places where grapes couldn’t be grown as an alternative to wine.
The Ancient Greeks referred to it as ‘the nectar of the gods’, the Vikings celebrated voyages by guzzling the stuff, and in medieval England, it was adored for its health benefits. In fact, the term ‘honeymoon’ comes from mead, when a pair of newlyweds would drink it to boost fertility.
What is Mead made from?
The sourcing of the honey is a key part of mead production and the end product. The flowers the bees visit during the process of creating the honey makes a huge difference, and of course each hive visits different flowers in different amounts, so every sip of mead is traced back to thousands of different flowers!
Once this is acquired it is diluted with water with yeast converting the plentiful sugars into alcohol. Once this is complete, the mead moves to a separate vessel for more work to be done. At this stage, it can be left as it is, aged for complexity, or infused with fruit juices, spices, herbs, beer, caramels, and syrups.
What does Mead taste like?
Honey is inherently complex, right down to its chemical composition, so through the process of fermentation the character of honey (usually drowned out by sweetness) can be unveiled. Therefore, mead will often have floral notes, earthy notes, herbal notes, and a whole array of fruity notes… all depending on the honey’s background and the yeast strains used.
Generally, mead tastes somewhat like a sweeter, lighter white wine with distinct honey tones and often more intense flavours.
Because honey is used, you may be thinking of overbearing sweetness, but mead is brewed in a range of styles from dry to semi-sweet to sparkling, and with the type of flower pollen and terroir affecting the honey too, it can be just as complex and varied as wine. They can even develop complexities under ageing.
Alcohol wise, consider mead as nearer wine than beer, usually ranging above 10% but less than 20%.
Which Mead should I try?
Lyme Bay Winery Mead
A benchmark traditional style mead from Lyme Bay in Devon, expect a dessert wine profile with a dry and refreshing feel, as well as a rich honey punch.
Size: 750ml
ABV: 14.5%
Find here: £12.99
Moniack Mead
Up at Moniack Castle in the Scottish Highlands, this is a dry mead with very prominent caramelly honey and pleasant touch of florality. Moreish smoothness and mouthwatering sweetness without the sickliness – stunning.
Size: 750ml
ABV: 14.6%
Find here: £15.68
Kinsale Wild Red Mead
This a melomel style mead, which refers to mead infused with fruit. In this case, that’s Spanish honey with Wexford blackcurrants and cherries. They give a gorgeous rich tang, and a touch of acidity to balance the honeyed sweetness on the finish.
Size: 700ml
ABV: 12%
Find here: £22.37
Afon Mel Heather Mead
Three great taste award stars, now you don’t see that very often. Hailing from Afon Mêl in Wales, heather honey goes into this mead for a tasty but subtle floral smokiness. This would pair nicely with wintery stews, or just on its own as a neat sipper with plenty to explore.
Size: 750ml
ABV: 13%
Find here: £28
If you’re always up for exploring drinks you might have heard about but never tried, check out our other guides on Baijiu and Pisco.