It’s Not “Honey Wine” or “Honey Beer”… So, What’s Mead?

Mead, wine, and beer aficionados commonly debate the origins of the beverages and which one is technically the oldest fermented beverage. All three beverages are based on the same principles: that yeast, when given access to a sugar source, will ferment the water or juice to create an alcoholic beverage. Each drink has thousands of years of history, so why isn’t mead a household name? Why mead fell out of the public eye It’s thought that a combination of factors resulted in the decline of mead, including the rising price of honey and falling price of sugar, French specialization in fine wines, and the acceptance of hopped beers between the thirteenth and fifteenth century. As Ken Schramm (a mead expert and author of The Compleat Meadmaker) writes, the Scots also perfected whisky-making around this time period, making mead one of the lesser-known beverages in Western countries by the time the 1700s came around. (For various reasons, including availability and traditions, other countries still drink mead or mead-like beverages more commonly than North America and western European countries have until the last decade or two.) Mead is coming back The resurgence of mead began in earnest in 1986, when Pamela Spence founded the American Mead Association. By 2003, 70 meaderies existed in the US alone, and at this time, over 200 meaderies are listed on the American Mead Makers Association website in the US alone, with over 40 meaderies internationally, including us at Sunset Heights Meadery. The problem with exact definitions With this resurgence in popularity, mead makers are hotly contesting the exact definitions of different types of mead, coming...

What Foods Go Well With Mead?

The art of pairing food and beverages is as difficult as you want it to be. From wine and cheese pairings to cocktails and party snacks, people have been pairing their drinks with their food for as long as we’ve had choices about which alcoholic beverages to consume! Some people approach it like an art with experimentation and boldness, colouring outside the lines. Others scientifically evaluate the exact reaction between alcohol flavourings and taste buds. Most of us just grab a bottle of whatever seems like it might go well with the meal we happen to be cooking. Here are some tips to help you start tasting mead and food combinations. You’ll probably want to reference our guide to mead varieties as you decide which meads to serve with your planned dinner. Try spicy and fruity flavours together Whether you’re pairing a light, fruity sauce with a spicy capsicumel mead made with hot peppers or spicy foods like Mexican foods with fruity, sweet melomel meads, spice and fruit naturally pair well for a refreshing and invigorating combination. Dry meads taste good with cheeses Think wine and cheese – dry wines are often served with cheese, so why not try dry meads in the same way? There are all kinds of mead flavours that seem dry, from blueberry show meads to hopped cysers. Much of your decision on which cheeses to select will be based on what particular dry mead you want to try. Try fruit meads with matching desserts The natural sweetness of a fruit-based dessert complements fruity meads based on the same flavours. For instance, try a sweet...