I Just Tried Mead for the First Time

Cafe Society
1

Pretty much what it says on the tin: I picked up a bottle of Oliver Winery’s Camelot Mead. Poured myself a glass and had a sip.

Yep, that is definitely fermented honey.

It’s… OK. A bit sweeter than I like my drinks (of any sort) but not bad in and of itself. I wouldn’t refuse it, but I’m not sure I’d buy it again. I think I like wine from grapes better. Or some wines - it being such a variable product.

Glad I tried it but doubt I’ll buy another bottle without some particular reason (pre-medieval feast re-enactment, maybe).

2

Like a lot of things, it can be an acquired taste. I myself was never fond of straight mead. But one of my sparkling ginger meads over ice makes a wonderful summer sipper. A good cyser (mead made with apple juice rather than water) will make you see Jebus (in a good way!)

Most commercial meaderies turn out a product that is, as you noted, on the sweet side. The only sweet mead I’ve ever liked was a buddies Sherry Raisin mead, which at tasting was 17 years old. Amazing.

3

It can be fairly sweet, but it can also be very dry indeed - surprisingly so. There are different varieties

4

So I am told.

This one was about as sweet as the winery’s white wines, which I like, but as I said I think I prefer the taste of fermented grapes over fermented honey.

One reason I bought it was that I like most Oliver products that I’ve tried.

Still can’t stand any form of cider, though - although many people do like it. Just personal taste.

5

There is a wide range of meads from dry to very sweet, still or sparkling, and served chilled or room temp. Don’t take the one you tried as representative of all of them.

But if your tastes trend toward wine, even dry meads might not be to your liking because of their low acidity. A mead with fruit (called melomel) can be more acidic, so maybe keep your eye out for that next time you find yourself at a medieval feast.

6

As a big fan of Drambuie and Yukon Jack, I’ve been wanting to try mead. Good to know there are levels of sweetness.

I’d heard that the term “honeymoon” came from drinking mead for a month after marriage. Wikipedia disagrees:

7

Look out for stuff from Wild Blossom Meadery. They’re out of Chicago, but the guy who runs it used to, at least, have an apiary in Indiana, though the current literature makes it sound like it may be in Chicago now. I think you’re in Northwest Indiana, so you may be able to find some of their products. They have flavored meads, cysers, dry meads, sparkling meads, sweet meads, but they rotate through product, and many might be difficult to find in stores. But they have a great selection of meads. If you end up in Chicago, they are located at 9030 S. Hermitage. It’s been many, many years since I’ve been there, but the guy who runs it used to have a place on 99th & Western Ave where he mainly ran a homebrew and winemaking shop as he was getting into mead making.

8

Be careful with that stuff! If you drink too much, you might get buzzed.

9

Well, that’s an advice that applies to all alcoholic drinks :wink:. But i’m curiuos, what’s the percentage of alcohol in mead in general? I know that it differs greatly for cider.

10

A valiant effort, but lessened by your failure to say “bee careful”.

11

You knew this would appear, no doubt.

By the way, TroutMan, I did consider adding the adjective “waxed”, but thought that was a bit weak.

12

I first read of mead in D’aulaires book of Norse mythology. I didn’t actually get to try some til twenty odd years later. It was worth the wait. I adore mead. OTTOMH my favorite is Jersey Devil mead. Fortunately for me, I can get it for about $13 a bottle at spots all around NJ.

Oh, a word of caution, many brands are actually just grape wine sweetened with honey. These often say “meade” rather than “mead”.

13

more or less the same as wine. But I have seen a couple of meads which were 15-16% ABV.

14

Thanks, that helps. Some heavy wines like sherry or port can also reach 15-16 %, so that seems to be comparable.

15

Or break out in hives?

16

Oliver’s mead is produced using a mix of white wine grapes and honey. It is more mead-like than mead. Having had it and a number of meads that do not include wine grapes (of a number of styles including dryer and sweeter) Oliver’s is cheap and doesn’t suck. It is not a great representative of even meads at the same sweetness level let alone the diversity of meads.

17

“Cheap and doesn’t suck” - OK, I’ll believe that. I’ve heard that about their wine in general but since I’m, apparently, a tasteless barbarian I enjoy it. Sure, there’s better stuff out there but that’s like pointing at the burger I’m eating and saying “that’s not filet mignon”.

I’ll keep in mind there are other varieties of mead out there and if I ever encounter one maybe I’ll try it, but it’s not like there are a lot of choices on the shelf where I live.

Although I’m not sure what to do with “more mead-like than mead”.

Also, after a little research it seems that Camelot Mead actually IS mead - made with honey, with no wine grapes. They do say they use the same yeast as with their white wines, but nowhere does the winery say they use white wine grapes.

Aside from the winery’s own site which states that the mead is made from orange-blossom honey, there is this site and others that state Camelot Mead is made from honey and yeast, no addition of grapes. So apparently it is a real mead.

18

Never met a mead I didn’t like, but that’s not saying much considering how hard they are to find.

19

Would it be good for sweetening coffee?

20

I just bought myself some wildflower honey, intending to try making mead for the first time. BTDT with making wine from grape, but one’s always got to expand one’s boundaries.