Traditional Mead

How is Traditional Mead made?

Traditional mead starts with a simple blend of honey and water, which gets fermented by yeast that converts the honey's sugars into alcohol. The process typically takes several weeks to months, depending on the desired strength and sweetness level. Some mead makers add fruits, spices, or herbs during fermentation, but classic versions rely solely on the natural flavors that develop from quality honey and time.

How do you drink Traditional Mead?

Traditional mead shines brightest when sipped neat at cellar temperature (around 50-55°F), allowing its honeyed complexity and subtle fruit notes to unfold naturally on your palate. While some folks enjoy it chilled or over ice during warmer months, purists argue that cold temperatures can mute mead's delicate flavors—think of it like drinking a fine wine rather than a beer. Mead works beautifully in cocktails too, especially those calling for honey or floral elements, where it can replace simple syrup or add depth to gin-based drinks like bee's knees variations or autumnal punches with apple cider and spices.

How do I choose a good Traditional Mead?

When selecting a traditional mead, look for producers who focus on quality honey sourcing and list the specific honey varietals used - wildflower, clover, or orange blossom each bring distinct flavor profiles that will shine through in the finished product. For cocktails, opt for drier meads with lower residual sugar since they'll balance better with other ingredients and won't create overly sweet drinks, while sweeter meads work beautifully as dessert pairings or sipped neat. Start with established meaderies that have won awards or received positive reviews from fellow mead drinkers, as this ancient beverage requires real skill to produce well.

Nutritional Information

Typical Calorie Range per Ounce: 20-25 calories

Typical Carbohydrate Range per Ounce: 2-4 grams

Typical Sugar Range per Ounce: 1-3 grams

Typically Gluten Free: Yes

Traditional mead is naturally gluten-free since it's made from honey, water, and yeast. The calorie and carb content varies depending on residual sweetness levels - dry meads fall on the lower end while sweet meads contain more calories and sugar. Always check the specific product label for detailed nutritional information and gluten-free confirmation, especially with flavored or specialty meads that may contain additional ingredients.

Scrolled this far? Your reward? Traditional Mead Trivia!

1. The oldest known mead recipe was discovered on a 9,000-year-old pottery shard in China, making it potentially humanity's first alcoholic beverage - predating wine and beer by thousands of years. Ancient Chinese brewers were fermenting honey and rice together when most of the world was still figuring out agriculture.
2. Medieval mead makers believed that drinking mead for the first month of marriage would guarantee fertility and happiness, which is where we get the term "honeymoon." Viking newlyweds received enough mead to last exactly one lunar cycle, and if a baby was conceived during this time, the mead maker received extra payment for their "magical" brew.
3. Queen Elizabeth I's personal mead contained actual gold flakes and was called "metheglin" - she drank it daily and credited it for her legendary energy and long life. Her recipe included over a dozen herbs and spices, and court records show she consumed more mead than wine, making her perhaps history's most powerful mead enthusiast.
4. Traditional Ethiopian tej makers use a wild yeast called "gesho" that naturally occurs on local buckthorn leaves, creating flavors impossible to replicate anywhere else in the world. This ancient technique produces a mead so unique that Ethiopian monks have been perfecting the same recipes in mountain monasteries for over 1,000 years.
5. Polish mead was so prized that it was aged for decades in underground cellars, with some bottles from the 1600s still being discovered today - and they're still drinkable. The most expensive bottle ever sold was a 400-year-old Polish mead that fetched over $20,000 at auction, proving that honey's preservative powers create liquid time capsules.