Mead is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from honey and water.
Making mead requires some equipment like bottles and airlocks, but once you have what you need, all it takes is time to ferment.
So what does mead taste like? Mead can be dry or sweet depending on what kind of honey you use, so we recommend trying different varieties until you find your favorite.
What is Mead?
Mead is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey and water.
It has a sweet, light taste similar to beer or wine.
Mead can be either still (uncarbonated) or carbonated like champagne when it’s bottled with yeast-produced carbon dioxide dissolved in the drink.
The alcohol content ranges from about 11% ABV up to 20%.
People have been making mead for millennia, tracing its origins back to ancient Egypt and the Minoan civilization.
There are recipes for mead included in many of our oldest surviving texts from around the world, such as Homer’s Odyssey (where it is called “honey wine”) and The Bible (which mentions a fermented honey drink).
Mead takes on different flavors depending on what type of fruits or herbs they use to flavor it.
Mead can be flavored with anything that has high sugar content, so some examples include fruit juice, oranges, lemons, berries, even chocolate.
The word “mead” loosely translates into English as “drink” or “liquor.
” It was originally used to refer to any strong alcoholic beverage made by fermenting grain or honey, but now it’s used specifically to refer to meads made with fermented honey.
Mead is usually served chilled at room temperature but can be poured warm for special occasions such as Christmas dinner with your family.
It’s also available to purchase just about anywhere that sells alcohol – liquor stores, grocery stores, and bars are all solid options if you’re thirsty for mead.
Types of Mead
Over the centuries, many types of mead have been created.
Here are some popular examples:
- Metheglin is a type of mead made with spices and herbs that gives the drink its unique flavor. This type of mead has often been used to aid in digestion or relieve digestive issues such as gas and indigestion.
- Melomel is a fruity variation on this traditional beverage, including fruits like oranges, apples, grapes, pears, and even figs.
- Sack Mead comes from Spain or Portugal, where they do not add their honey but instead use sugarcane juice to make it sweeter for those who enjoy it more sweet than savory. Because the combination can be quite strong at times, it is often served with a savory dish.
- Posset is made from curdled milk or cream that then becomes fermented because of the natural yeast found in dairy products, making this variation taste slightly different from others. This type of mead was once made into a drink to help pass cholera epidemics.
- Braggot is an old English tradition where honey and malt are mixed as one alcoholic beverage instead of two separate drinks like traditional honey beer. The name “braggot” comes from the Old English “bragot,” which means strong drink.
- Bochet is a mead that has been heated by boiling and then cooled down; this makes it thicker than others because of how much water evaporates out during the process.
- Payment is made from grapes and honey, which is a popular drink in ancient Greece.
How to Make Your Mead?
Mead is a type of alcoholic beverage that’s made from honey, water, and yeast.
It can be ours as draft or bottled form (or in mead barrels).
The traditional way to make it involves soaking the honey until all it’s dissolved into liquid form, then adding water and berries for flavor if you want them.
To reduce the alcohol content in your mead while preserving nutrients, continue to boil it with hops slowly.
Then allow it to cool before combining with yeast so that fermentation begins at room temperature- not too cold but not hot either.
It’s a long process, but it produces delicious drinks.
And if you’re feeling like something different, try making wine with grape juice or beer with malted barley and hops instead of honey.
Those are some other traditional types of alcohol to explore as well.
Honey is the quintessential ingredient in most recipes for mead: you can’t have mead without honey.
Some people like to store their bottled or draft batches of mead in a dark place with an occasional opening for air, and others prefer refrigeration.
In general, it’s best not to serve your meads cold- this causes carbon dioxide bubbles from the fermentation process to form on its surface.
This is why some wines are served at room temperature while beers are consumed chilled.
The alcohol content varies depending on what type of yeast and how long you ferment it but typically ranges between 12% – 15%.
Mead also has a great deal of nutritional value because it contains nutrients that don’t spoil easily since they’re preserved by the honey when fermented.
What Does Mead Taste Like? Does Mead Taste Good?
Mead is a type of alcoholic beverage made from honey and water, as well as yeast.
It is often mixed with fruits, spices, and other ingredients.
Mead can be a smooth drink, or it can be very dry, depending on the type of honey used to make it.
Mead has been around for centuries and is associated with celebrations and being medicinal in some cultures.
It’s also sometimes called “honey wine”.
Mead is usually fermented with yeast for some time and then aged in oak barrels.
Mead can be made from any honey, which will give the mead its unique flavor profile.
There’s no set recipe to follow when making this drink, but it typically takes about two weeks after fermentation before mead is ready to consume.
The taste often changes over time as well – especially if certain ingredients are added or left out.
This means that one sip might not have much taste while another could be very spicy depending on what was done during production.
Generally speaking, mead has a sweet honey-like taste with some spice mixed in.
Mead can also vary depending on the type of honey used to make it and what other ingredients are added or left out during production.
Can Mead Get You Drunk?
Mead can be made from just about any type of sugar-rich plant material: fruit juices, flowers, grains, and honey are all good candidates for fermentation into a drinkable wine.
Meads vary in color from light to dark yellow in hue.
The flavor ranges from dry to sweet depending on the sweetness of the mix and its fermenting time.
A person who drinks mead may become intoxicated because it contains alcohol levels up to 18% by volume (ABV).
Most traditional meads range anywhere between 12%-18% ABV – which is equivalent to drinking an average-sized glass or two of wine per day – but there are also super strong-flavored varieties that come close to the potency of whiskey.
Mead is a popular alcoholic drink in ancient cultures, and it’s still drunk today by millions of people worldwide.
Just like alcohol, drinking too much mead may lead to becoming intoxicated.
Drinking heavily can result in several health problems such as liver and heart disease, weight gain or loss, and a decrease in cognitive abilities.
Is Mead Stronger Than Beer?
Many people often ask the question, “What is stronger? Mead or Beer?” The truth of this matter all depends on a few factors.
It can be said that mead generally has higher alcohol content than beer does.
However, beers typically have more calories and carbs because they are brewed with barley malt extract.
At the same time, meads will usually only consist of honey, water, and yeast as their main ingredients.
Digestion wise though really depends on what kind you’re eating at any given time because the different alcoholic beverages have varying levels of sugars in them.
It’s important to know that mead is sweeter than beer, so this might affect you if you try to limit your sugar intake.
Meads can be produced from various ingredients like honey, fruits, spices, and even hops.
At the same time, beers will only have barley malt extract as their main ingredient (usually).
There’s also the fact that some people believe mead has more health benefits than beer does because it contains antioxidants that help with our immune system, among other things.
So really, there isn’t an answer for “what is stronger?” when it comes to comparing these two drinks, but most would say meads are typically stronger in alcohol content than beer is.
Why is Mead Expensive?
Mead is expensive because of the amount of time it takes to make.
It can take as long as a year before the yeast settles and converts all of its sugars into alcohol, which leaves honey still intact – something that cannot happen with wine or beer.
Mead also has additional steps in production, like boiling honey and adding herbs or spices for flavor.
Wine and beer are boiled after fermentation to separate solids from liquids, but mead isn’t pasteurized, so those particles remain floating around when you drink it.
The final cost of making mead makes sense, considering how much labor goes into producing this beverage.
No wonder they’re worth their weight in gold.
Conclusion
Mead is the oldest fermented drink to date.
It has several variations, it’s made from honey that is fermented with water and yeast, and it can have or lack any amount of fruit juice (typically beet-root sap).
Mead tastes sweet because of the honey, but its strength varies depending on the contents.
Give it a try and see if it is the right taste for you.
What Does Mead Taste Like? Does Mead Taste Good?
Ingredients
- Mead
- Ingredients from your favorite recipes
Instructions
- Depending on the recipes you choose, the taste can vastly differ.
- For authentic results, it is important to choose a recipe that will highlight the original flavor.
- Have fun experimenting with different recipes and taste tests!
About The Author
