Love is Honeymoon with Mead
By Nick Lico / Photography by Mike Ferdinande
Exact records do not exist, but it is thought that the first alcoholic beverage was not wine or beer, but mead. Made by fermenting honey mixed with water and sometimes adding ingredients such as fruit, spices, grain or hops, mead has been called honey wine and the nectar of the gods.
Even the term “honeymoon” is thought to be associated with mead as newlyweds were encouraged to drink the honey wine for a full moon cycle to encourage fertility and virility.
This sweet beverage, with alcoholic content ranging from about 3.5 percent to more than 20 percent, is increasing in popularity and can be found at many local breweries.
“Mead, most simply put, is fermented honey. Like grapes are to wine and grain is to beer, honey is to mead. It can be sweet or dry, traditional or flavored. It really is quite versatile,” said Kerri Dahlhofer. She and her husband, Brad, own B. Nektar in Ferndale, “Mead is extremely flavorful and sweet since it’s made from honey. We use fruits that have a lot of acidity in our meads. For example, Pinot Noir might have 6.5 grams of acidity per liter. Some of our meads can have 23 grams per liter and some can have almost 100 grams of acidity per liter,” added Ken Schramm, Schramm’s Mead, also located in Ferndale.
When asked how the taste of mead compares to wine or beer, Schramm replied, “Meads deliver a huge mouth feel and some pair better with some foods than do beer or wine. Indian and Thai are pretty good examples.” If you’re thinking about trying mead, our brewers offer the following advice:
“I recommend that they look at the mead offerings and pick the flavors that jump out to them. If you love the taste of blackberry, you’ll most likely enjoy our Blackberry Mint mead or Black Fang, which is mead made with blackberry and clove. It’s easiest to start with familiar flavors,” Dahlhofer said.
She also highly recommends B. Nektar’s Episode 13, a traditional sweet mead with orange blossom and buckwheat honeys aged in bourbon barrels. It pairs well with fruit tarts, caramel cheesecake or can stand alone as an aft er-dinner drink. “There are three of our meads that I would highly recommend for those trying mead for the first time,” Schramm added. “Our Blackberry mead is a blend of berries blended with orange honey and one of the best meads for pairing with food. It’s great with any barbecue or red meat. I also recommend A Smile of Fortune, which is a blend of different fruits, such as tart cherries and boysenberries, and A Heart of Darkness. It features estate-grown fruit and pairs well with spicy, grilled red meats, high quality dark chocolate and blue cheeses.”
Check out mead at these and other local breweries and you may very well start a longstanding honeymoon with this historic beverage. – everything in moderation!