California: Sonoma County’s only mead producer launches first taproom

From pressdemocrat.com

If the word “mead” brings to mind brawny Vikings or medieval kings clinking oversized mugs of sweet, heavy honey wine, HiveWorks Mead would like to change that image.

The Rohnert Park company is making a lighter, drier and effervescent version of the ancient drink — and now has a taproom where customers can try it.

HiveWorks opened its new tasting room July 15 on State Farm Drive, next to its production facility. The taproom gives the two-year-old company an expanded home as it looks to build its following for session-style meads.

“Our customers have consistently asked for a dedicated place they can hang out and enjoy our mead,” said Alexander Mendoza, HiveWorks’ co-founder, head mead-maker and CEO. “When the perfect spot opened up right next to our production space, everything just clicked. It felt like the exact right time to take this next step.” 

HiveWorks Mead Company launches new mead taproom in Rohnert Park. (Gunther Kirsch)

Made by fermenting honey with water and yeast, mead has long occupied a niche corner of the alcoholic beverage world. But producers are increasingly experimenting with sparkling, fruit-infused and lower-alcohol versions aimed at drinkers accustomed to craft beer, cider and wine.

The global mead beverage market is projected to reach $720.93 million in 2026 and nearly $1.89 billion by 2036, growing at an annual rate of 10.1%, according to Future Market Insights.

“People are definitely looking for craft alternatives to traditional beer and wine, and we feel our mead hits the mark,” Mendoza said. “It’s genuinely delicious and very approachable for all palates.”

From home brewing to mead

Mendoza and co-founder Sean Duckworth, both Sebastopol natives, met in second grade. Years later, while attending Sonoma State University, the two began making beer and cider in the closet of their small apartment. Their friend Julian Frank was experimenting with mead.

“We just loved the process of mead-making and found the history really interesting,” Duckworth said in a 2024 interview with The Press Democrat. “The fermentation process is really complex, and you have to use a lot of science and math to get the results you want.”

The trio eventually set out to create something different: a session-style mead that would be dry, carbonated and lower in alcohol than many traditional versions. Since founding HiveWorks in 2024, Frank has left the company while Duckworth remains a shareholder and Mendoza the chief executive.

HiveWorks uses Oregon honey and filters its mead to prevent re-fermentation in the can. The mead is produced without sulfites or preservatives — selling points Mendoza and Duckworth have banked on.

“It checks a lot of boxes for modern consumers,” Mendoza said.

HiveWorks Mead Company launches new mead taproom in Rohnert Park. (Gunther Kirsch)

HiveWorks currently offers several meads, including its flagship Skyborne, a dry session mead; Crimson Queen, made with blueberries; and Emerald Swarm, a dry-hopped version. Seasonal and experimental releases rotate through the line-up.

“Opening a taproom is a dream come true,” Mendoza said. “We’re so excited to finally have a brick-and-mortar home to share with the local community, and we can’t wait to welcome our neighbours and the supporters who have championed us from the start.”

The details

HiveWorks plans to celebrate the new taproom with a grand-opening party from noon to 9 p.m. Sept. 19, featuring live music, Dino’s Greek Food Truck and a new mead release.

The taproom is open 3-9 p.m. Thursday, noon-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon-6 p.m. Sunday.

HiveWorks Mead Company: 5701 State Farm Drive, Suite 116, Rohnert Park; 707-241-3143; hiveworksmead.com

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/09/02/sonoma-countys-only-mead-producer-launches-first-taproom/

Alberta: Meadery in Mountain View County feeling ripple effect from U.S. tariffs

From thealbertan.com

Following past substantial growth, Fallentimber refocusing amid tariff uncertainty and reduced consumption 

MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY – Staying afloat as a business amid the economic turmoil created by U.S. tariffs as well as other factors like evolving consumer trends necessitates not only an ability to find opportunity in challenge but especially a willingness to adapt.

That kind of entrepreneurial spirit is one Nathan Ryan endeavours to embrace.

Ryan is the general manager at Fallentimber Meadery, a family-operated business that he and his brothers established some 16 years ago.

“I’ve been working full-time in Fallentimber since 2010,” he told the Albertan when contacted for comment on Aug. 25 in light of trade negotiations between the U.S. and Canada breaking down when Prime Minister Mark Carney had just days prior opted to walk away preferring “no deal to a bad deal.”

ON Aug. 22, the U.S. instituted tariffs of 50 per cent on various Canadian products.

All of Fallentimber’s sales of mead, honey and soda are primarily in Alberta, he said. 

“There is a small token amount of special order products that leave the province.”

However, even though Fallentimber currently does not directly do business anywhere in the U.S., the meadery has felt the ripple effect from recent U.S. tariffs, which increase costs for certain supplies crucial to their production line.

“We’ve seen price increases on things like cardboard,” he said.

“Now we’re starting to see aluminium increases. It took longer than I expected with aluminium, but it’s not insignificant,” he said, citing a close to 25 per cent increase since current tariffs went into effect earlier this summer.

“The cans went from about 21 cents to 28 cents starting the first of July,” he said. “That was a big jump.”

To date, Fallentimber has done what it can to eat those costs rather than pass them on to consumers. 

“Through the majority of all of the cost increases we have experienced over the last five to six years, we have absorbed it,” he said.

“Our observations on retail spending lately have led us to believe holding the line is all we can do. Honey is maybe our exception, where we don't really follow market pricing; we have a finite amount of honey that meets our desired quality for sale.”

Yet while Fallentimber is finding a way forward, the situation is a far cry from what before the pandemic was a much more promising future.

“We made huge moves towards growth in 2019,” said Ryan.

“We had talks with distributors happening from the U.S. and Asia and other places,” he said.

“COVID just kind of shut all those conversations down.”

The uncertainty of 2020 and 2021 also took a bite out of their bottom line, but there was “a huge surge in growth” going into 2022, he said.

“And then we started to see people sort of recoiling and clamming up in terms of alcohol consumption, it felt like,” he said.

“It also kind of correlated with when a lot of the Health Canada guidelines started coming out,” he said, referring to revised consumption guidelines that changed from a recommended maximum of two daily alcoholic beverages to two weekly drinks to minimize adverse health effects.

“I really didn’t expect it to have any sort of effect, but I feel like it did,” he said.

“I think it was an eye opener from, you know, the end of COVID days where everybody was letting loose and happy to be out and socializing.”

As to the latest round of tariffs imposed by the U.S. on Canada, which came into effect Aug. 22 with Canada set to impose dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs that come into effect Sept. 8, Ryan can for now only speculate how Fallentimber will feel the impact.

“I don’t know where that’s going to go just yet,” he said, anticipating at the least an impact on honey pricing.

“We’ll keep our eye on the tariff side of things,” he said.

“But that’s all pretty new for us. It’ll take a while to realize what’s going on.”

https://www.thealbertan.com/mountain-view-county-news/meadery-in-mountain-view-county-feeling-ripple-effect-from-us-tariffs-12708489

Mead on the Menu: Is Honey Wine Hospitality’s Next Big Drink?

From businesstraveller.com

By Rebecca Pitcairn

The Ritz’s first female sommelier Emily Lambert has turned her passion for English wine and hospitality into a new generation of mead – taking this ancient drink into some of the UK’s chicest hotels, restaurants and wine bars 

In a world increasingly led by consumer demand, hotel and restaurant wine lists are evolving. From grower Champagnes (sparkling wine made by the same farmer or estate that grew the grapes) to no and low options, natural wines and sparkling ciders, the choice is expanding far beyond the traditional.

British sommelier-turned-winemaker Emily Lambert is on a mission to merge the worlds of modern and traditional wine by putting a contemporary spin on one of the world’s oldest alcoholic drinks – honey wine. 

Lambert made her name as the first female sommelier at The Ritz London, where she joined the hotel’s pioneering academy at just 17. She went on to become a champion of English wine, appear on BBC Two’s Million Pound Menu and work as a wine consultant before co-founding Loxwood Meadworks with her partner, Danny Bacon, in 2022.

A Revelation at The Ritz

Wine was not an obvious career choice for Lambert, who admits she knew little aside from the obvious categories – red, white or rosé. But a family visit to The Ritz for afternoon tea as a teenager left a lasting impression, and when she decided that further education at college was not for her, she began looking for an alternative path. 

Serendipitously, she discovered an advert for The Ritz Academy on the final day for applications, quickly submitted and of more than 400 hopeful applicants, she was one of just three chosen to join that year. The course trained apprentices across all departments of the hotel but Lambert’s first post was with the restaurant team, where she found herself working alongside sommeliers – despite being only 17 and unable to drink the wine.

“I was just pouring water at first, but I just loved the theatre of it all – the elegance and service of being a sommelier, and I guess entertaining the diners,” she explains. 

Becoming The Ritz’s first female sommelier was not without its challenges. In a traditionally male-dominated environment, she recalls guests sometimes assuming – with her hair slicked back and uniform of suit with tails – she was a young man. But those experiences only served to strengthen her determination and open doors. 

Emily Lambert     Credit: Loxwood Meadworks

Discovering English Wine

Lambert realised that some of the most interesting wines at The Ritz were not necessarily from the traditional European powerhouses. Working alongside French and Italian colleagues, who naturally championed their own countries’ wines, Lambert found herself becoming something of an English wine evangelist.

“My first was Gusbourne and I remember tasting it and being like ‘whoa, this is amazing,” she says. “Everyone talked about how bad English wine was, and I was like, look it really isn’t and that snowballed into this passion of wanting to represent them.”

But rather than trying to make English wine feel worthy or overly serious against its counterparts, she wanted to make it accessible, contemporary, fun and flirty. 

“I just feel that wine is enjoyed in such a fun environment. People typically enjoy it with friends and partners, and on a date, and I just felt like all those moments felt playful and sexy.”

It was that determination that led her to apply for Million Pound Menu with her then housemate, chef Ruth Hanson, in 2018. The BBC Two TV series mixed the competitive pressure of MasterChef with the investment drama of Dragon’s Den and saw the duo develop an all-British restaurant concept called Epoch, with everything sourced from within the UK. 

“We didn’t even use pepper, we dehydrated horseradish instead, we used completely British beverages, and obviously English wines, which was my passion.”

The pair secured interest from investors including chef Atul Kochhar, although the investment ultimately did not materialise. It was disappointing, but Lambert now sees it as part of a much bigger journey.

“I wouldn’t have met Danny if we didn’t do it this way.”

An Ancient Drink Gets a Modern Makeover

The couple met at Lockswood Joust, a medieval festival organised by Bacon and his family in West Sussex and where he was showcasing his mead. It was a drink that, despite years working in hospitality, Lambert had barely encountered.

Mead is believed to be the oldest fermented alcoholic drink in the world – archaeologists discovered evidence of honey wine production in China dating back to around 9,000 BC. It is also thought to be the origin of the word “honeymoon”, when newlyweds were traditionally gifted a one lunar cycle’s worth of honey wine to drink after their wedding.

“I just thought, ‘why do people not know about this drink?’ and felt it needed more recognition,” explains Lambert. She went on to develop Loxwood Meadworks with Bacon, to give mead a more contemporary identity and deliberately position it as a wine rather than a niche historical product. 

“We call it honey wine over mead, because I think that’s how customers can comprehend it in their mind better,” she adds. 

Credit: Loxwood Meadworks

From Bee to Bottle

Traditional winemaking techniques are used to create different expressions, from off-dry to oak-fermented and a traditional-method sparkling honey wine. The latter took patience with the second fermentation in bottle taking 18 months, compared with two to six weeks for grape wine. 

“But then that gave it its own distinct characteristic,” explains Lambert. “It had been that long on the lees, and then it started to develop these caramelized notes.” 

The wines are also beginning to demonstrate the importance of provenance. The honey comes from hives on a single-estate in Loxwood, and Emily says, there has been huge vintage variation. 

“In 2023, 12 hives produced more than 1,000 bottles. In 2024, the same hives produced only around 500 so it’s difficult to forecast what’s to come,” Lambert explains. “The flavours can be quite different too: 2023 was peachy and full of stone-fruit character, while the following vintage was more herbaceous.”

This is down to where the bees choose to fly. They can travel up to six miles from the hive; with the plants they visit influencing the resulting honey and wine. This provenance and ‘terroir’ is what makes honey wine – similarly to grape wine – fascinating when it comes to pairing it with food.   

“Depending on where the bees go, depending on the weather, depending on the soil,” says Lambert. “There’s so many factors that affect the influence on the wine.”

Winning Over Hospitality

Honey wine has found a receptive audience among some of Britain’s leading hospitality names; the Mandarin Oriental, Jason Atherton restaurants, Lady of the Grapes, Fortnum & Mason, Row on 5, The Dorchester and Coworth Park are among those that list Loxwood Meadworks, while they have collaborated with the recently opened Derby London City, Curio Collection by Hilton hotel on a bespoke bottle for its minibars. 

One of Lambert’s favourite early successes came at Gordon’s Wine Bar, where the product was placed under a dedicated honey wine category.

“They sold around 1,700 bottles in a year, which I think just goes to show that the demand for honey wine is there if venues are open to listing it,” she says. “It’s a lighter and fresher drink than people probably expect – quite aperitif-esque and I think that’s why it works well.” 

For Lambert, the parallels with the English wine category moving from curiosity to credibility – driven in part by sommeliers and hospitality professionals willing to put something unfamiliar in front of customers – has been essential to the marketing strategy. 

“Sommeliers act as our ambassadors – just as I did for English wine,” she says. “Our biggest challenge as a business is getting the message out there to the general public that honey wine could and should be a part of modern drinking culture.” 

https://www.businesstraveller.com/insights/features/mead-on-the-menu-could-honey-wine-be-hospitalitys-next-big-drink/