America’s Mead Renaissance

Mead may have been humanity’s first alcoholic experience. Hunter-gatherers of the African savannah could’ve happened upon pools of water in hollowed-out trees that contained the fermented remains of honey-soaked beehives.

Honey wine remains the most popular alcoholic beverage in Ethiopia, one of the planet’s oldest cultures, and mead fills the pages of antiquity. The writings of both Greek philosopher Aristotle and Pliny the Elder of Rome include references to the fermented drink.

However, when cane sugar overtook honey as a popular, less expensive sweetener, honey harvests declined, prices went up, and the byproducts once used to make honey wine all but disappeared. Mead melted into the shadows behind wine, beer and spirits. Today the beverage is largely associated with Middle Age marauders and Game of Thrones.

American mead producers are exploring a wide range of styles, from dry and sweet to those made with fruit, spices, wine grapes and even beer.

But mead producers across the United States hope to change that. They’re exploring a wide range of styles, from the basic dry and sweet, to those made with fruit (called melomel), spices (metheglin), wine grapes (pyment) as well as beer (braggot). There’s even a growing Ethiopian-American meadery movement.

Mead Cocktails from the Hive Mind

I recently sampled 24 meads made by 10 producers. Not surprisingly, honey notes are prominent in most, and there’s not much secondary ­aroma and flavor development, but cellaring could help. The melomel and metheglin categories show much potential, and they will appeal to those seeking something more complex than honey.

If you don’t want to take my word for it, try them at The Mazer Cup, the mead world’s annual international competition. It happens in Broomfield, Colorado on March 18–19.