An ancient brew gets a modern twist: Mead gaining popularity in an adventurous liquor market

From financialexpress.com

Mead is perhaps the oldest alcoholic beverage dating back to 7,000 BC

A casual read about mead aboard a flight got Nitin Vishwas interested and he excitedly shared the information with Rohan Rehani, a close friend. The duo thought of bringing the drink to India, and Moonshine Meadery was set up in Pune in 2016.

Mead is perhaps the oldest alcoholic beverage dating back to 7,000 BC. A non-grain recipe, once known as the elixir of the god, mead is crafted from honey and water which is fermented with yeast. It is considered a cross between wine and a cider but is closer to wine than beer in terms of alcohol content, which ranges between 8% and 20% ABV (the amount of alcohol/ethanol in a drink).

For Indians used to spirits, liquor and wines, meads have begun to spark an interest, with consumers willing to try out something new.

For Indians used to spirits, liquor and wines, meads have begun to spark an interest, with consumers willing to try out something new

Rehani proudly claims that Moonshine is Asia’s first meadery, which today retails its products across Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Goa. They began with two varieties – apple cider and coffee — priced at Rs 220 for a 330 ml bottle (alcohol content 6.5%). Moonshine Meadery also runs the Mead Lab Series, where it experiments with new flavours. These are dispatched in select and limited batches. The flavours experimented with include Assam tea, mango chilli, guava chilli, gooseberry vanilla, etc. Its other offerings include a Thai ginger and kaffir lime mead, a grilled pineapple mead, and coffee mead. The startup received a seed round of funding some time back from an angel investor group and high net worth individuals and even tried their luck on the business reality show SharkTank. The company is now in talks with a few investors to fund expansion plans.

For Yoginee Budhkar and Ashwini Deore, the entry into meads was again sparked by a chance introduction to meads in the UK while pursuing a doctorate in food engineering and technology. Their brand Cerana has collaborated with breweries in Maharashtra and Karnataka to make braggots, melding malt and mead. Cerana also makes India’s very first pyment — a mead using grapes. Their version uses chenin blanc grapes from Nashik. Cerana’s melomels, which are fruit-infused meads, highlight both local produce and natural honey. Their products include jamun melomel that uses jamun honey and pomegranate melomel that uses lychee honey. “Our meadery in Sinnar region of Nashik produces authentic meads with an emphasis on Indian flavours. The quality of our meads is of primary importance to us. We believe in a philosophy of farm to bottle, and in line with this we treat all our raw materials with utmost care, be it the honey, fruit or spices,” says Budhkar.

All of Cerana’s offerings are priced at Rs 180 a pint except for their Yule spice sold in winter at Rs 450. The products find takers among the 25-40 year age bracket, largely upper middle-class consumers who are well-travelled and are curious to try out homegrown craft beverages.

Maharashtra-based Priyanka Save, founder and director of Hill Zill Wines, is capitalising on this trend with her homegrown fruit wine brand Fruzzante at Dahanu near Mumbai. Her product, Arkä rose mead (Rs1,095 for 375ml) is a reddish-pink liquid with a heady smell of roses in bloom. Says Save, “Roses have an inherent essence and bitterness which needs careful cold extraction and light press.” Other variants like the jamun mead is priced at Rs 1,050 for 375ml.

Other significant mead players in India include No Label, a mead brand based out of Delhi; Origin Meadery, an upcoming Mumbai-based mead brand that borrows inspirations from beer styles and is considered a craft mead. A couple of meaderies are reported to be coming up in Karnataka as well. As new entrants on the scene, Indian meaderies are coming out of the pandemic mode and are raring to have a go at the Indian market. Both Rehani and Yoginee say it is too early to peg a size to the Indian mead market. “In three years, we see a lot of brands pushing meads coming. At least we certainly hope so, since only then will the category grow,” says Rehani.

The global mead market is estimated to be about $500 million as of 2021 and is growing at the rate of 11%.

https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/an-ancient-brew-gets-a-modern-twist/2465559/