Mulled Mead Glows Up

From sandiegomagazine.com/Blogs

Meadiocrity Mead’s glühmet, or mulled mead, is a unique treat for blustery days

Move over, hot toddies. Hot mead is here and—spoiler alert—it might be the Next Big Thing.

Mead is often referred to as honey wine, but that’s not quite accurate. It’s categorized as wine due to lack of a standalone segment in the United States’ alcohol industry, but the mead-making process is more similar to beer and the end result evokes an agricultural terroir akin to cider. Honey is the main fermentable sugar and the alcohol content ranges from very low (3% ABV) to fairly high (20% ABV), with most falling somewhere in the middle.

While mulled mead shares quite a few similarities to the traditional toddy (honey, lemon, spices, and, of course, alcohol), mead’s relative obscurity has stifled more mainstream acceptance. San Diego is home to a small handful of meaderies, and one of these early local adopters is San Marcos-based Meadiocrity Mead, who recently released their take on glühmet, or hot mulled mead. (“Glüh” or “Glüeh” translates to “glow” in German, which references the now-antiquated method of plunging a red-hot poker into the beverage to heat it up.)

                                                                 Photo by Beth Demmon

“Mead is easy to make, but hard to make well,” comments Mark Oberle, one of Meadiocrity’s co-founders. He posits that a lot of people who say they don’t like mead just haven’t been exposed to a well-made option. Their tasting room at 1365 Grand Avenue, Suite 100 opened this October and offers around a dozen different meads, all made with San Diego honey. Like other hot libations, Meadiocrity’s glühmet (Oberle pronounces it “glue-meat”) is only available at the source.

To make glühmet, Meadiocrity starts with a semisweet 12.5% ABV base mead and adds orange, lemon, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, and allspice. It’s kept warm in an electric coffee percolator before being transferred to the final drinking vessel, which comes as a 2-ounce pour for $4 or 6-ounce pour for $9. The heating process does diminish the alcohol content slightly, but the final 12% ABV still falls well within the standard range for meads.

At first sniff, the aromatics are overwhelmingly lemony with the spices taking a slightly muted role. The fruity characteristics continue their domination in the flavour as well, but thanks to the smooth sweetness of the honey and elegantly restrained supportive spices, it never seems overly tart There’s an unmistakable bite to it, which one can expect from pretty much anything 11% ABV or above. But it drinks easily, maybe even a little too easily for 12%. I could see myself accidentally ordering a few of these, especially during this cold snap San Diego is experiencing. I’ve had a lingering sore throat for a few weeks, and glühmet is way more soothing (and delicious) than the cough drops I’ve been relying on for relief.

My only advice for Meadiocrity is to zazz up glühmet’s presentation a little more. A stick of cinnamon or orange slice garnish would add a festive flair to an already fun and unique beverage. But I can live without the panache. The experience is worth seeking out and far from mediocre.

https://www.sandiegomagazine.com/Blogs/The-Tap/Fall-2019/Mulled-Mead-Glows-Up/

Minnesota Is Ready for a Mead Boom

From minnesotamonthly.com

The honey-sweet drink is beginning to swarm the Twin Cities, and we’re here for it

Mead has been around about as long as humans have been drinking alcoholic beverages.
Excavations of ancient Egyptian tombs have unearthed mead, and a form of the honey liquor was enjoyed in Neolithic China. Aristotle refers to mead when discussing the very nature of sweetness. In Norse mythology, mead was said to inspire poetry. Perhaps most famously, mead plays a central role in Old English epic poem Beowulf, where it serves as the medium through which legendary stories are traded.
It’s the common ancestor of beer, wine, and cider. And yet mead has remained on drinking culture’s fermented fringes, at best a fourth-string intoxicant. It enjoyed a popularity bump in the middle of the decade, thanks in no small part to the popularity of Game of Thrones and mead-swilling fan-favourite barbarian Tormund Giantsbane, plus a few odd mentions in the Harry Potter series. But this year’s Minnesota State Fair marked the latest evidence of mead entering the hive mind.

The Fair’s vaunted 2019 beer list featured a standout from Sociable Cider Werks: Honey Bee Lavender Honey Mead. In the sea of 53 shandies, dessert beers and experimental IPAs, it was this mysterious, yet eminently familiar, drink that sparked the most curiosity.

Sociable Cider Werks’ Mead for Speed    Courtesy of Sociable Cider Werks

Put simply, mead is honey fermented in water. As malt is to beer, apples are to cider, and grapes are to wine, honey is to mead. Microbes feast on the honey, creating a wine-like elixir that can be combined with fruits, juices, and even hops to create an incredible variety of flavours.

“There’s over 200 varieties of honey in the United States alone, so that’s 200 varieties of mead you can make right there,” says Joshua Eckton, owner of White Bear Meadery in White Bear Lake. “You can blend honeys, you can use different yeasts to change the characteristics, and of course there are different fruits and spices you can add in. There’s quite a range.”

Eckton, a mead homebrewer with three decades of experience, opened White Bear Meadery in June, the first mead-only taproom in Minnesota. White Bear’s meads show off the drinks’ versatility and seasonality. Their traditional meads are clear and served slightly chilled (Valhalla and Freya). One mixes apples and cinnamon in a toddy-like delight (Spiced Eple). Another infuses coffee into a caramelized honey wine (Berserker).
It’s only now that Eckton sees a viable business opportunity. Less than six months after opening, he’s seen craft beer adventurers, some with hundreds of taprooms visited, wander in to try the next evolution in the local beverage scene.

“Everybody knows about beers and wines, and mead’s getting into the spotlight again,” he says. “People are saying, ‘OK, that’s another craft beverage.’”

Eckton estimates 90% of his clientele still don’t know what mead is, exactly. Over the years, locals became acquainted with the beverage at the annual Minnesota Renaissance Festival. There, costumed fairgoers revel in the medieval appeal of mead, drinking it from horns as Vikings would. The association between the Renaissance Festival and mead began in 1971, when festival organizers reached out to drywall contractor and hobby meadmaker James E. Bird, asking him to make a drink for their 21+ attendees. J. Bird Wines became a commercial winery in 1984, and they’ve been the Ren Fest’s mead supplier the whole time.

“It’s amazing how many people don’t know what it is, but yet how old it is and how popular it was,” says Matthew Winters, current co-proprietor (with James E. Bird’s granddaughter Jessie) of J. Bird Wines, based in Cambridge. “It’s a simple thing of saying, ‘Mead was the first alcohol that was ever created, so every other alcohol ever created was the bastard child of mead.’ So, you should at least try it to know where all the alcohol started.”

Winters knows that, in order for mead to have a renaissance all its own, it needs to get out of cosplay culture and into the mainstream. That means larger commercial companies need to normalize mead as a regular offering before people stop seeing it as a novelty. But the lack of consumer awareness, high price of honey, and lengthy fermentation time are all obstacles to this breakout.
“With beer and wine, you can pump out large quantities, and it can be good relatively quickly,” Winters says, noting that J. Bird meads sit for three to four years. “People want it quicker. But now people are starting to realize that, if you want something good, you can wait for it.”

                      WineHaven’s Stinger Honeywine mead           Courtesy of WineHaven 

Along with Sociable, J. Bird Wines, and White Bear Meadery, commercial producers fermenting honey into mead in Minnesota include Waconia’s Schram Vineyards, Minneapolis 'Urban Forage and Chisago City’s WineHaven Winery and Vineyard. Opened in 1995, WineHaven has built its reputation on the success of its internationally awarded Stinger Honeywine mead.

“[Mead is] one of those beverages that, frankly, I’m not sure why it disappeared,” says WineHaven winemaker Kyle Peterson. “Prohibition had something to do with that, but it was the beekeepers who kept that tradition alive.”

Beekeeping has been a tradition at WineHaven throughout the generations, and this close connection to the honey and its source is, to Peterson, what separates their mead from the field. He remembers his grandmother telling stories of Queen Elizabeth and her royal recipe for mead, marvelling at the drink’s significance in royal weddings (giving us the term "honeymoon"). “There’s this huge, huge culture to mead that most people, to this day, aren’t even aware of. It used to be bigger than beer, and it’s nice to see it’s getting its moment again.”

Lou Karp, the man behind Sociable Cider Werks' mead program, went to meadmaking school two years ago. At the time, mead was growing faster than  any other alcoholic beverage market. Until hard seltzer blew up, that is. Still, Karp believes mead’s White Claw moment awaits.

“It’s just a novelty to people right now,” Karp says. “A lot of commercially available meads are extremely sweet and super high in alcohol, and that’s not what we’re making. We want to make something that’s accessible to everybody.””
In addition to Honey Bee Lavender Honey Mead, Sociable released a low-ABV canned mead (Mead for Speed) in January to help the drink mount the comeback it deserves. But Mead’s growth velocity ultimately lies in the public’s willingness to give it a try. Minnesota drinkers are known for being omnivorous, so it’s only a matter of time until mead is dusted off and held, once again, to the same heights as beer, wine, and cider.
“It’ll definitely continue to rise in popularity,” Karp says. “We just gotta get it into people’s hands.”

https://www.minnesotamonthly.com/food-drink/drinks-cocktails/minnesota-is-ready-for-a-mead-boom/

Return of the drink loved by Vikings and ancient Celts

From bbc.co.uk

                       A long-lost tradition of making mead has been revived in the Perthshire hills

                                                                   Christopher Mullin      

High in the hills above Pitlochry in Perthshire a former soldier has embarked on a new mission to revive an ancient Scottish drink.

Mead, which is made from fermented honey, was much loved by Celtic tribes and Viking warriors.
But, over the last few centuries it has largely disappeared with beer, wine and whisky knocking it off its pedestal.

However, Christopher Mullin has now restarted mead brewing in Scotland and is recreating recipes dating back thousands of years using archaeological evidence.

His army career as an intelligence officer took him to numerous military headquarters around the world, but after retiring from the armed forces he has now set up his own base, the Rookery, in a converted stable building amid the hills and forests of Glen Brerachan.          

Christopher's interest in mead stems back to his time studying Gaelic at the University of Aberdeen when he learned about it through studying Beowulf and other early literary works from across the British Isles.

There was one other key reason for its appeal - honey.

                                       Christopher Mullin foraging for ingredients of the drink

                                                                    Christopher Mullin

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland's Kitchen Café programme, he said: "The process I use is not unlike making wine as I ferment the sugars in water but my sugar source is honey. That's absolutely sacrosanct. It must be honey.
"I don't add white sugar. I don't add anything else as a fermentable. "

He added: "Honey is almost like a magic potion. It's an amazing product to work with. It's malleable, it lasts forever, you can get different varieties of flavour, it's resistant to infection and it is anti-bacterial.
"One of the things I am really proud of is I don't use any chemicals in my production process. I don't use fining agents but more importantly I don't use sulphates or preservatives because honey itself is a preservative. It's just a wonderful thing to work with."

Much of the honey used is sourced from an apiary just a few miles down the road from the Rookery. The location of the business also makes it an ideal location for foraging for other key ingredients.
"I add adjuncts which is a brewing term for things to give the mead additional flavour," said Christopher.

"Most of these come off the hill that we brew on. Most of my adjuncts are native species, such as mountain ash berries or hawthorn berries, because I am really interested in the history and archaeology of Britain.
"Most of what I do either was definitely done by our ancestors or probably done by them. The evidence I use goes back 4,500 thousand years and people have been around here for a good 10,000 years before that. I gather things our ancestors were out picking at similar times of year to me to make similar products."

                                     The Vikings were fond of the odd tipple or two of mead

                                                                     Getty Images

In the Rookery a new concoction with its origins in the Bronze Age is currently brewing. It is based on archaeological evidence of mead production gathered from the Machrie Moor standing stone site on the Isle of Arran.
Christopher said: "It is a honey and grain and flour brew which is what most of those really old brews were. I have brought together two of my hobbies - making booze and archaeology.
"Sometimes it is an interpretation so I am getting close to what was maybe being made thousands of years ago. But this one, which should be getting released next year, is as close as possible. It is not an interpretation it is practically a reconstruction. "

                                            Christopher Mullin is making mead from a Bronze Age recipe                                                                                         Christopher Mullin

Mead was the drink of choice for the elite for the early people of the British Isles, but by the Middle Ages imported wine from the Mediterranean had become more common.
However, Christopher said the real decline in mead's popularity can be linked with changes in the way beer was produced, which vastly increased its shelf life.

He said: "The big game changer for mead is the introduction of hops. Once hops comes in beer lasts longer. It now becomes a commercially viable product made by men rather than women at home.
"Beer becomes cheaper so you can now get drunk on a penny instead of a shilling. And economics takes over.
"So mead falls by the wayside and becomes a niche historical curiosity. And that takes us to the modern day where you have got in the UK probably about five or six of us making properly made meads and I am the only one in Scotland. I am the Scottish mead industry right now."

And Christopher said it is something that is definitely worth bringing back.
He said: "The flavours that are possible are just legion. From dry and herbal through wine like and sharp. Through fruity through complex through focused through sweet. It's just a great thing to be experiment with and play with.
"It's great in cooking too. Where you can use beer, wine, sherry you can use meads. The best bit though is you get to taste the past."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-50488465

Best Reasons To Purchase A Beer Drinking Horn

From thedubrovniktimes.com

The beer drinking horn is linked to the Vikings, greatly admired for their fierce and courageous qualities. A beer drinking horn is a drinking vessel that’s made of animal horns like cattle. While Vikings are warriors, traders, and explorers, they also loved to drink alcoholic beverages like beer and mead.

Beer drinking horns embody the Vikings’ admirable qualities and traditions. For this reason, serving drinks in a beer drinking horn is a unique and meaningful way to celebrate achievements and important events in your life.

                                                                       Shutterstock

Below are the best reasons why you should buy a beer drinking horn.

Unique Event Theme

A Viking-inspired theme won't be complete without a beer drinking horn. It's a unique concept that’s gaining popularity, especially during weddings. What’s more, a beer drinking horn is a nice giveaway. Telling your guests that they can bring home their beer drinking horn after a wedding reception is a unique and memorable way of ending your celebration.

Here are some examples of events or occasions where you can implement a unique Viking theme:

● Wedding: If you're looking into a unique and memorable wedding theme, having a Game of Thrones theme is a great idea. Feel a real Viking feast by serving your guests beer in drinking horns, which are perfect for cold beverages. Enjoy and relive the Medieval times, using such a unique drinking vessel.

● Bachelor's Party: Whether bachelorette or bachelor party, having a Vikings theme would make the ambiance unique and cool. Just imagine yourself and your closest friends tossing and drinking endless amounts of beer until you're all satisfied chatting and bursting into laughter.

● Children's Party: For children's parties, drinking horns can hold juices, smoothies, or other favourite drinks for everyone to enjoy. Ask the kids to wear Vikings costumes and send out Viking giveaways. With the matching holder, the kids can set their own drink down so it doesn’t tip over.

● Halloween Party: This occasion is a great chance to take selfies or photos of people wearing the coolest costumes ever. So why not take the opportunity to wear a Viking costume and flaunt your polished beer drinking horn? It's such a great idea to celebrate Halloween.

● Christmas: If drinking beer, wine, soda, or juice in a glass feels too “ordinary,” consider switching things up with beer drinking horns. This item will surely make your Christmas eve more exciting and magical.

Best Pairing for Grilled Food

Drinking horns go well with grilled foods, like barbecue and steaks during festive celebrations on various occasions. For instance, a citrusy and bright American pale ale has strong hops notes that dance with the best spices of grilled foods and barbecue sauce, making a great drink pairing. Beer malt perfectly matches with the savoury meat.

Feel the unique drinking experience and savour the delicious taste of meat, best paired with your beer drinking horn to hold your beverage.

Encourages Conversation

Surely, you'll have a lot of guests on your special day. While you might know all of them, they might not know each other as much and feel uneasy around unfamiliar faces. Break the ice with beer drinking horns. Serving beverages in beer drinking horns can be a great conversation starter.

Here are the things your guests would love to talk about while seeing such unique drinking vessels:
● The uniqueness of the drinking horn
● First-time experience of using a beer drinking horn
● Eagerness to use a similar theme on their next event

Experience Pride While Drinking from a Premium Vessel

While drinking wine, beer, or any other beverage in a glass can be elegant, many people are already used to such a drinking vessel. Drinking in a unique and premium-quality drinking horn will leave the person feeling more special in your gathering. Treat your guests extra special by choosing only the best drinking horns.

Here are the qualities of a high-quality beer drinking horn:

● Safe to Use: A high-quality beer drinking horn is double sealed with a modern and safe sealant to ensure safe use and no leaks.
● Handcrafted: A high-quality drinking horn is made by hand to ensure it is well-crafted.
● Sustainable: Horns were obtained from family farms specializing in horn crafting for sustainability and respect for animals. Only deal with a trusted seller who can provide proof of using only sustainable horns to consumers. One way to check is through the company’s website.
● Durable: Choose one with a resin-based material to prevent warping, contracting, and expanding.

Conclusion

Drinking horns have been around for ages. These drinking vessels were used by Vikings a long time ago, and modern celebrations can benefit from beer drinking horns, which embody quality, pride, respect, and appeal.

https://www.thedubrovniktimes.com/lifestyle/feature/item/7734-best-reasons-to-purchase-a-beer-drinking-horn

It's back! Beat the crowds and take a sneak peek inside Thor's Tipi in Lincoln

From lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news

There are a few surprises this year

Thor's Tipi are back and this year Lincolnshire Live got the chance to take a sneak peak behind the tent curtain.
The pop-up tipi is open from Friday, November 8 until New Year's Eve.

Two interlinked canvas tipis form the Viking-themed bar, which this year celebrates a brand new layout, a bigger selection of beers and an even bigger menu.

Last year's The Cheese Cave has been replaced by the street food vendor The Sausage Grill, which is usually based in St Marks.
The new and improved menu boasts a wide variety of drinks this year, including hot cocktails such as the Thor's Hot Toddy and hot ciders including the Caramel Apple Cider.
A selection of mead will also be on offer this year, including the tipis very own Thor's Mead and Viking Blood Mead.

             There's a new and improved drinks and food menu (Image: Lincolnshire Live)

There is also a brand new Thor's photo booth, meaning you can take home a memento of your night for just £3.

Alex Hardcastle, national events manager for Thor's Tipi, said: "We're extremely excited about the opening this year.
"Every year we aim to improve and this year I believe is the best year we've ever had. We've developed the menu and we've tweaked our hot drinks so you can choose to add shots of alcohol.

               Thor's Tipi opened at midday on Friday, November 8 (Image: Lincolnshire Live)

"We also have Viking drinking horns this year, so basically anything you can buy in a pint, you can drink from a horn. There's a great selection of local ales and we have our Thor's pale ale. The Cheeky Imp ale will also be on offer this year.

"We sell more hot chocolate in Lincoln than we do anywhere else, so we have a section of our menu called Cocoa House and that includes drinks like the Choco-Hazelnut Cocoa and Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate. We've really taken the feedback we've received from both customers and staff alike and made some great changes that we're hoping will be popular in Lincoln."

                           Viking horns will be available this year (Image: Lincolnshire Live)

The bar will be family friendly with children allowed in until 9pm and you can also bring your pet pooch along too.
The tipi will be open 11am till 11pm Sunday till Thursday and 11am till late Friday till Saturday.

https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/lincoln-news/its-back-beat-crowds-take-3516394

All About Cakes and Ale (or Cakes and Wine)

From patheos.com

I was recently asked about the origin of the phrases “cakes and wine” and “cakes and wine.” Both phrases are common in Modern Witchcraft circles and have been a part of the Craft for at least the last 70 years, and most likely before that. So why do we use these terms and what is “cakes and wine” all about?

                                                                   “Scones and Ale”

The term “cakes and wine” in relation to Witch ritual first shows up in Gerald Gardner’s 1954 book Witchcraft Today. Gardner’s first reference to cakes and wine is to refute an author of the time who suggested that Witch ritual resembles that of the Catholic Church:

“There may be a fertility dance, but the other rites are simple, and with a purpose, and in no way resemble those of the Roman Catholic or any other Church that I know. True, sometimes there is a short ceremony when cakes and wine are blessed and eaten. (They tell me that in the old days mead or ale was often used.) This may be in imitation of the early Christian Agape, the Love Feast, but there is no suggestion that the cakes turn into flesh and blood. The ceremony is simply intended as a short repast, though it is definitely religious.”

Just a couple of pages later Gardner mentions Modern Witches performing a Yule ritual and ends that paragraph with “The Cakes Wine and Ceremony follows.” In other words, “cakes and wine” has been around since people started publicly identifying as Witches in the early 1950’s.

Cakes and wine is obviously shorthand for “communion bread and wine,” and if you’ve read anything about the Witch trials of the early Modern Period you might have noticed that Christians seemed convinced that witches were imitating and mocking the eucharist and the communion ritual. There are even stories of witches stealing “the hosts,” which generally taste awful so that seems completely nonsensical to me. Gardner references this ideas in 1959’s The Meaning of Witchcraft:

“The taking of wine during the rites is part of the ceremony; it consists usually of two glasses at the most, and is not intended to be a ‘mockery’ of anything, still less a ‘Black Mass.’ In fact, witches say that their rite of the ‘Cakes and Wine’ (a ritual meal in which cakes and wine are consecrated and partaken of) is much older than the Christian ceremony, and that in fact it is the Christians who have copied the rites of older religions.”

Cakes and wine (or “cakes and ale” which is my preferred term for reasons we will get to below) involves the sharing of food and drink, most often near the end of ritual. While the ceremony is called cakes and ale, any sort of food stuff works as a “cake.” Over the years my coven has used all manner of baked goods as cakes. Cookies, rolls, bread, and cupcakes all come to mind, along with fruits and vegetables. For ale we’ve used wine, cider, mead, beer, milk, and sparkling grape juice. Any kind of liquid can be used as ale, though wine is probably the most traditional. A completely alcohol-free cakes and ale ceremony is acceptable and is a must for covens with recovering alcoholics. (I have a great deal of sympathy here since my own mother is an alcoholic.)

At its core, cakes and ale serves as a celebration of the abundance and fertility of the earth. We are able to eat cakes because the earth provides us with grain and all the other things necessary to turn that grain into something edible. Most of us also see cakes and ale as a tangible gift from the gods.

Because they are a gift from the gods, cakes and ale serves as a moment of thanksgiving during Witch ritual. We thank the gods for what they’ve given us, and our thanks help to sustain them in turn. When handing out cakes and ale, I’m reminded of all the other gifts that my Lord and Lady have given me over the years (my coven, the Craft, and dozens more). We should be thankful for what we’ve been given, and cakes and ale provides an opportunity to do just that.

The Pagan group the Church of All Worlds has a saying that I’ve always found applicable to cakes and ale: “Water shared is life shared.” While my coven’s cup is generally filled with wine instead of water, the sentiment is still valid. Groups that share food and drink with one another generally stay together. Sharing cakes and ale is a way for a group to bond and forge the ties that will keep them together.

The phrase cakes and ale is a traditional English one that means “the good life,” (1) and there are few things better in life than enjoying good food and drink with chosen family while in a magickal space. The phrase first showed up in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in 1602 in the line “Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?” Because of the deeper meaning of the phrase cakes and ale, I find it preferable to cakes and wine, though the latter is nearly as common in witchy circles (with wine also being more common in my own chalice).

                   The Lord of Misrule in Shakespeare’s (Edward de Vere’s) Twelfth Night

Though Gardner called the ceremony “Cakes and Wine” he also mentions “cakes and ale” in The Meaning of Witchcraft (where it was most likely picked up by other Witches):
“In the old days, they tell me, ale or mead might be used instead of wine, any drink in fact that had “a kick” in it, because this represented “life”. I wonder if this is why Shakespeare used the expression ‘cakes and ale” as a synonym for fun which was frowned on by the pious?”

Cakes and ale serves another purpose in ritual: it’s a great way to ground. After an hour of raising energy and praising the gods, putting some food and drink in the belly is an easy way to come back down to earth, so to speak. Eating and drinking help reconnect us to the physical world, which is so easy to forget about while in the magick circle. In the few instances when I’ve left a ritual without receiving cakes and ale, I’ve found myself a little out of sorts.

Before being consumed in ritual, the cakes and ale should be blessed by whoever is leading the ritual. When with my coven, I generally use the beverage that was activated in the Great Rite and then pass that cup around the circle. At large gatherings I use individual cups for everyone, blessing them with my athame, which still usually has a bit of the liquid held by the cup in the Great Rite. My wife suggests passing around the cup before the cakes to avoid food particles getting in the wine.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/panmankey/2019/11/cakes-ale/

Celebrate veterans and rescue rabbits with this mead

From gainesvilletimes.com

Once I entered the giant Total Wine & More shop in Brookhaven, the first question I asked one of the employees was, “Where’s your mead section?”
The first staff member stared at me blankly. 

“What’s mead?” they asked.
“Honey wine,” I replied.

I figured this person must be new, so I asked for assistance from another employee. It took three tries to find someone who knew what I was talking about.

This is a massive wine shop full of styles that I can’t even pronounce. You would think they would know what mead is. After all, it’s one of the world’s oldest alcoholic beverages, dating back to ancient Greece, Africa or northern China depending on who you ask.
I asked Blair Housley, mazer (mead-maker) and owner of Etowah Meadery in Dahlonega about his experience educating the general public on mead.
It turns out, Housley comes across many people on a daily basis who have no idea what he’s selling.

                Etowah Meadery's Cane Break session mead. - photo by Nick Bowman

“Around 80% of my customers have never heard of it or tasted it,” Housley said. “I tell them it’s wine made from honey. It’s always a learning experience for patrons.”
Since 2018, he has been canning his mead and sending it off to wine shops around Georgia.
Never having tried mead from a can before, I jumped on the opportunity to grab one of Housley’s meads.

Housley said he was inspired to begin canning his mead after people kept asking to take the drinks to-go from the taproom. Since the mead on tap was either nitrogenated or carbonated, he didn’t feel comfortable sending it off in bottles. The carbon dioxide in the drink has the potential to put pressure on the cork, causing it to explode.

So far, canning the mead has proved a success.
Loving all things tart, I decided to indulge in the meadery’s Cane Break, which is made from Georgia raw honey and black currant.
Housley said he chose to incorporate black currant into the mead as a means of offsetting the sweetness of the honey flavour with the tart, bitter berries. 

Initially he made a full-version mead that came out at 12% alcohol by volume. He soon found out that a lot of people enjoyed it, but they wanted a lighter taste.
Housley decided to make this one of his session meads, which means he bumped the alcohol content to 6.5%, making it a little lighter and easier to drink.
The final version of Cane Break morphed into a sweeter version of the original.

Although the drink is undeniably sweet, it’s on the dry end for mead. It has a beautiful semi-tart black currant punch on the backend.
You’d be hard-pressed not to enjoy this mead. Even if you’ve never tried mead, this offers something that’s easy-drinking and not overly sweet.

If you take a look at the can, you’ll see a rabbit holding an American flag. The can’s art was designed by Grant Searcey, who recently died from cancer. Housley said Cane Break is one of the last pieces Searcey created. 

Cane Break holds additional significance to Housley because it supports veterans and a domestic rabbit rescue group.
A portion of the proceeds from Cane Break are donated to local veteran organizations and the Georgia House Rabbit Society in Marietta.
Housley and his wife currently live with four house rabbits.
“We wanted something that would honour veterans and my wife for the rescue efforts and desire she has for house rabbits,” Housley said.

The name of the mead was also influenced by rabbits.
Cane Break comes from the canebrake rabbit, also known as a swamp rabbit.
“These are the rabbits that grew up in the thickets of cane along the Etowah River,” Housley said. “Native Americans and early settlers hunted this rabbit.”

If you’re ever in Dahlonega or near a Total Wine & More shop in Georgia, I urge you to try this mead. I don’t like to throw out the words “unique” or “special,” but this drink definitely falls into that category.

Etowah Meadery is located at 3003 Morrison Moore Parkway in Dahlonega. For more information about Housley’s tasty mead, visit etowahmeadery.com. 

https://www.gainesvilletimes.com/life/kelsey-drinks-beer/celebrate-veterans-and-rescue-rabbits-mead/