"Mead. The mere mention of the word conjures up visions of drinking vessels swaying high in the air, with throngs of Vikings singing rowdy songs into the
night. Mead is the nectar of nectars, and one of the most natural drinks ever made by man.
"Mead is a pleasant alcoholic drink made from diluted honey and water, fermented by
yeast. It is possibly the earliest known fermentable, due to the lack of any kind of sweetener and the very few fruits known in ancient
times. In fact, the Nordic countries did not even know of wine until trade routes were established between the north and the south."
At its most basic, mead is just honey, water, and yeast.
Depending on anything else you add, the name changes. So "metheglin" is any mead with spices added, and
"melomel" is mead with fruit
added. There are also specific names for some meads that have additions, like
"pyment" for a mead made with grapes (if you think that's a
melomel, you're right).
Instead of spices, I've added hydrosols to some of my
meads. Hydrosols are the condensed steam that comes from steam distillation of an
herb. So you get green myrtle hydrosol (great for your eyes!) as a by-product of distilling green myrtle herb.
Flutterbye
Aromatics has a great selection of hydrosols.
COMPETITIONS
Apple Mead, 2nd
Place, 2002 Wine Smith Open Holiday Mead, 4th Place, 2003 Down East Aler's Annual
