Mead is a very misunderstood beverage. Over the centuries it has been characterized as a bitter and cloudy beverage that only Vikings with strong stomachs would drink. Nothing could be further from the truth and I believe that the Vikings themselves started this rumor just so they could keep the golden beverage all to themselves!

So What is Mead?

It is a wine that is fermented with honey instead of grapes. It is pretty much as simple as that and if you think about it doesn’t it make sense that it would be a beautiful and sweet beverage? And that it is. A typical gallon of Mead uses about three pounds of honey which is about one quart and that is one quarter of the volume. That is a lot of honey.

So, why isn’t mead very well known?

Well, a couple of centuries ago it was extremely popular but it was also very expensive. Honey was a very precious commodity and it took wealth to get honey. So people of wealth drank mead. This all changed dramatically as the art of wine from grapes was developed, and that is an art that is much less expensive. Growing grapes is much easier to do than raising bees and you can grow a lot of grapes. So, with the advent of inexpensive wine from grapes the art of mead making fell to the wayside for sheerly economic reasons.

But in todays world we have access to lots of honey, and at reasonable prices. A bottle of mead can be made for a very reasonable price.

There has been a rising trend in the popularity of mead and now you can often buy it In local wine shops or on online shops. So if you have never tried it I recommend you give it a try! You might be pleasantly surprised.

To learn more about the wonderful world of mead visit the authors website at: The Joy of mead

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