What is Mead ?

HONEY, THAT AMBER soul-juice of a region’s flora, is the fermentable base for mead. In many parts of the ancient world, honey was the only ready source of sugar and hence the primary source of alcoholic beverages. What we call mead was known as madhu in Sanskrit, methy in Greek, and metu in old German. The similarity of the words indicates that the drink is older than any of these languages—meaning it’s mighty old.

Mead was the ubiquitous drink of the holy throughout the ancient world: The seven-thousand-year-old Hindu text known as the Rig–Veda describes paradise as having a spring of mead; Zeus and his fellow Greek gods drank this nectar; the Norse god Odin sustained himself on the drink; Christians used mead to toast the Archangel Michael. 
The Celts of England drank vast quantities of the beverage and called their island home the Honey Isle of Beli.

Because of its antiquity and association with the divine, mead acquired a magical reputation in our mythologies. It was the giver of knowledge and poetry, health and immortality, and sex. The term honeymoon refers to the custom of drinking this honey-based beverage for a month (moon) after the wedding. Guests at ancient Moorish weddings reportedly drank honey wines to fuel their post-ceremony orgies.

As the technology evolved, mead making became so specialized that its commercial production was restricted to members of a special guild. Over the centuries, however, a widespread increase in barley and grape production meant that beer and wine became much less expensive to produce than mead. As this trend continued, mead consumption, once commonplace, was relegated to special occasions and eventually was reserved for only religious or state events. Currently, it’s available commercially only as a novelty item and is produced by a scattering of devotees.

In its purest form, sometimes referred to as show mead, this beverage is made from honey, water, and yeast, often one part honey to four parts water. There are, however, many additions to this simple formula, which produced beverages that were common enough in ages past to have earned their own names:

• Metheglin is mead made with herbs or spices, such as cloves or cinnamon. Metheglin’s name derives from mead of the glen, which, some have argued, has evolved into our word medicine.
• Rhodomel is metheglin made with roses and honey.
• Zythos, or braggot, is mead fortified with malt. One might also think of this drink as beer fortified with honey.
• Melomel is mead with added fruit or fruit juice.
• Cyser is melomel made with apples or apple juice. You could also think of this as a cider fortified with honey.
• Morath is melomel made with mulberries or mulberry juice.
• Pyment is frequently defined as a melomel made with grapes or grape juice and often herbs and spices. You could also say that pyment is wine fortified with honey.

The strength of mead is another attribute apparent in its various names:

• Quick, small, weak, or short “mead is made with less honey—often five to nine parts water to one part honey—and therefore has less alcohol.
• Tall, strong, or sack mead is made with more honey—often three parts water to one part honey—and therefore has more alcohol and is sometimes sweeter. Some recipes advise aging this type of mead for several decades.

The amount of effervescence adds a third attribute:

• Still, mead is flat; in other words, it has no effervescence.
• Sparkling mead has bubbles.