Mead is an alcoholic beverage created from honey and water that has been fermented.
Producing mead involves some equipment, such as bottles and airlocks, but once you have everything, all you need is time to ferment.
So, how does mead taste? Mead may be dry or sweet depending on the honey used, so experiment with several types until you discover your favorite.
Contents
What exactly is mead?
Mead is an alcoholic beverage derived from the fermentation of honey and water.
It tastes sweet and light, akin to beer or wine.
Mead may be still (uncarbonated) or carbonated (like champagne) when bottled with dissolved yeast-produced carbon dioxide.
The alcohol concentration varies between 11% and 20% ABV.
Mead has been produced for millennia, with its roots dating back to ancient Egypt and the Minoan civilisation.
Recipes for mead may be found in many of the world’s earliest surviving literature, including Homer’s Odyssey (where it is known as honey wine) and The Bible (which mentions a fermented honey drink).
Mead takes on many tastes depending on the fruits or herbs used to flavor it.
Mead may be flavored with anything with a high sugar content, such as fruit juice, oranges, lemons, berries, or even chocolate.
Mead roughly translates to drink or liquor in English.
It used to apply to any powerful alcoholic beverage prepared by fermenting grain or honey, but it is currently only used to refer to meads made with fermented honey.
Mead is often served cold at room temperature, although it may also be served heated for special events like as Christmas dinner with family.
If you want to try mead, you can buy it almost anyplace that sells alcohol. Liquor shops, grocery stores, and pubs are all good places to start.
Mead Variety
Several different varieties of mead have been developed throughout the years.
These are some well-known examples:
- Metheglin is a mead brewed with spices and herbs, which give the drink its distinct taste. This sort of mead is often used to promote digestion or to ease digestive disorders including gas and indigestion.
- Melomel is a fruity take on this classic beverage that includes oranges, apples, grapes, pears, and even figs.
- Sack Mead is made in Spain or Portugal, where they use sugarcane juice instead of honey to make it sweeter for people who want it sweeter than savory. Since the combination may be rather potent at times, it is usually accompanied with a savory food.
- Posset is created from curdled milk or cream, which is then fermented by the natural yeast inherent in dairy products, giving this version a somewhat distinct flavor than others. This sort of mead was previously used to help people get through cholera outbreaks.
- Braggot is a historic English ritual in which honey and malt are combined into a single alcoholic beverage rather than two distinct beverages as in typical honey beer. The word braggot is derived from the Old English word bragot, which meant “strong drink.”
- Bochet is a mead that has been heated by boiling and then cooled, making it thicker than others due to the amount of water that evaporates during the process.
- Grapes and honey, a favorite drink in ancient Greece, are used as payment.
How Do You Make Mead?
Mead is an alcoholic beverage comprised of honey, water, and yeast.
It is available to us in draft or bottled form (or in mead barrels).
The conventional method entails soaking the honey until it is completely dissolved into liquid form, then adding water and, if desired, berries for taste.
Continue to gently boil your mead with hops to lower the alcohol level while maintaining nutrients.
Let it to cool before mixing with the yeast, so that fermentation may begin at room temperature—not too cold, nor too hot.
It’s a lengthy procedure, but it results in exquisite beverages.
If you want to try something new, make wine using grape juice or beer with malted barley and hops instead of honey.
There are also additional classic forms of alcohol to investigate.
Honey is a key element in most mead recipes: you can’t have mead without it.
Some individuals like to keep their bottled or draft batches of mead in a dark room with periodic air holes, while others prefer refrigeration.
In general, serving mead cold encourages carbon dioxide bubbles from the fermentation process to appear on the surface.
As a result, certain wines are served at room temperature, whilst beers are served cold.
The alcohol percentage varies depending on the yeast used and the length of fermentation, although it normally runs between 12% and 15%.
Mead also has a high nutritional value since it includes elements that do not deteriorate readily because they are maintained by the honey during fermentation.
What Is the Taste of Mead? Is Mead Delicious?
Mead is an alcoholic beverage that is prepared from honey, water, and yeast.
It’s often combined with fruits, spices, and other components.
Mead may be a smooth drink or an extremely dry drink, depending on the kind of honey used.
Mead has been around for generations and is linked with festivities as well as therapeutic properties in certain cultures.
It’s also known as honey wine.
Mead is typically fermented with yeast for a period of time before being aged in oak barrels.
Mead may be prepared with any honey, which gives the mead its own taste character.
There is no specific formula for creating mead, although it usually takes around two weeks after fermentation before it is suitable to drink.
Taste varies throughout time, particularly when specific elements are added or removed.
This implies that depending on what was done during manufacture, one sip may have little flavor while another may be quite hot.
In general, mead has a sweet honey-like flavor with a hint of spice.
Mead may also differ based on the kind of honey used and what additional components are added or left out throughout the preparation process.
Can Mead Get You High?
Mead may be prepared from almost any sugar-rich plant material: fruit juices, flowers, grains, and honey are all suitable for fermenting into a drinking wine.
Meads range in color from mild to dark yellow.
The taste fluctuates from dry to sweet depending on the sweetness of the mix and the amount of time it ferments.
Drinking mead may produce intoxication since it contains up to 18% alcohol by volume (ABV).
Most typical meads have an ABV of 12%-18%, which is similar to drinking an average-sized glass or two of wine per day, but there are also exceptionally strong-flavored variants that rival whiskey in intensity.
Mead was a common alcoholic drink in ancient societies, and millions of people consume it today.
Drinking too much mead, like drinking too much alcohol, may lead to intoxication.
Drinking excessively may lead to a variety of health issues, including liver and heart disease, weight gain or loss, and a decline in cognitive functions.
Is Mead More Potent Than Beer?
Several individuals often wonder, “What is stronger?” Beer or mead? A few elements influence the veracity of this topic.
Mead often has a greater alcohol concentration than beer.
Beer, on the other hand, has more calories and carbohydrates since it is made with barley malt extract.
At the same time, meads are often made using simply honey, water, and yeast as the primary components.
Nevertheless, digestion is highly dependent on the kind of alcoholic beverage consumed at any particular moment, since various alcoholic drinks contain variable quantities of sugar.
It’s crucial to note that mead is sweeter than beer, which may effect you if you’re trying to cut down on sugar.
Meads may be made using a variety of components, including honey, fruits, spices, and even hops.
Simultaneously, beers will only have barley malt extract as their primary component (usually).
Moreover, some individuals feel that mead has greater health advantages than beer since it includes antioxidants that aid our immune system, among other things.
So, is there really no solution to the question of what is stronger? When comparing these two beverages, most would agree that meads have a higher alcohol level than beer.
Why is mead so pricey?
Mead is pricey because of the time it takes to produce.
It may take up to a year for the yeast to settle and convert all of its sugars into alcohol, leaving the honey intact, something wine and beer cannot do.
Mead preparation also includes extra stages such as boiling honey and flavoring with herbs or spices.
Wine and beer are boiled after fermentation to separate the solids from the liquids, but mead isn’t pasteurized, so those particles float about in your glass as you drink it.
Given how much effort goes into generating this beverage, the end expense of brewing mead makes sense.
It’s no surprise they’re worth their weight in gold.
Conclusion
Mead is the world’s oldest fermented beverage.
It is created from honey that has been fermented with water and yeast, and it may include or not contain any quantity of fruit juice (typically beet-root sap).
Because of the honey, mead tastes pleasant, although its strength varies depending on the ingredients.
Give it a go and see if it suits your palate.
FAQs
Does mead taste good?
Fruit meads are known as melomels, while spiced meads are known as metheglins. So, what exactly does mead taste like? Mead takes some getting accustomed to, but once you do, it’s rather tasty! It has a sweet, honey-like taste that is ideal for a hot summer day.
Can you drink mead straight?
How to Make Mead. Traditional mead is usually served cold in a wine or cocktail glass, although there is no incorrect way to consume it. This adaptable beverage may be served at a range of temperatures, ranging from icy cold fruit meads to boiling hot spiced meads, depending on the style and ingredients.
How long does mead take to taste good?
Fermentation takes roughly 7 days on average, but your mead might boil for up to two weeks! That’s just OK; the longer your mead ferments, the more sugar your yeast consumes, resulting in a drier, more alcoholic mead.
How do you make mead taste good?
Preservatives like as sulfites or sorbates are the only method to create a stable sweet mead. They inhibit fermentation and leave residual sweetness. Depending on the sugar level of the honey, the usual mead recipe asks for 3 to 3.5 pounds of honey per gallon of finished mead.
Why is mead not popular anymore?
Why did it become unpopular? In the 17th century, there were some new tax rules, as well as greater availability of West Indian sugar, which made honey more difficult to get and less important. But it was the growth of other alcoholic beverages, namely beer and wine, that did it in.
Why is mead not more popular?
Most of these recipes have been lost or drastically altered throughout the decades. Considering how important mead is, it’s a mystery that it’s not more popular. The explanation is straightforward: industrialized agriculture. Grains and grapes can be cultivated more quickly and cheaply than honey.
Can mead get you drunk?
Is it possible to get drunk on mead? Indeed, mead is an alcoholic beverage with an ABV ranging from 8% to 20% – (Alcohol By Volume). I’ve included a basic recipe below, although there are several variants.
Can you mix mead with Coke?
Is it possible to combine mead with anything? Yes, within reason! Mead is a versatile beverage. You may create a lengthy drink out of it by adding soda or tonic water, ice, and a slice.
Do you need to refrigerate mead?
Since it contains a lot of alcohol, you may keep a typical mead in the pantry even after uncorking. It’s OK to keep the mead in there as long as the bottle is firmly sealed. But, to preserve the quality of your mead, we suggest keeping it in the refrigerator.
Does mead taste better cold or warm?
The temperature of the mead is entirely up to you. Lighter dry meads, like many white wines, should be served refrigerated. Darker, sweeter, or stronger-flavored meads may be served cold or at room temperature.