From masslive.com
Honeybees are amazing insects, and one small business in Western Massachusetts is growing thanks to the bees’ tireless work, coupled with a big dose of curiosity.
In 2009, Mimi’s Hilltop Apiary was born from harvesting honey and beeswax atop Prospect Mountain in the Hampden County hill town of Granville.
There, Mark and Tammy Cressotti, along with their son, Austin, and daughter, Jessica Haas, worked to bring their aged apple orchard back to life by beekeeping.
Mimi’s Hilltop Apiary produces raw honey and crafts handmade beeswax soaps, lotions, salves, and lip balms. Their products can be found in grocery stores, salons, farm stands and small shops all across the region.
“In 2017, one of our workers mentioned that her dad was making mead, and we were curious to try it,” remembers Tammy Cressotti. “Mead by definition is honey wine, and it would pair perfectly with our existing business.”
Their employee’s father gave the Cressottis their first taste of pear mead. “And,” she says, “it blew us away. We knew immediately we had to learn the craft.”
The history of mead is one of the oldest among alcoholic beverages, and it is possibly the first form of alcohol, dating back to the Viking era. Mead is a sweet, fermented drink made from honey, water and spices.
“We created our own, secret recipe of delicious mead,” Cressotti adds. “Our bees do a lot of the work for us, feeding on blossoms from trees and plants that enhance the flavor.”
The family has 15 acres of clover, wildflowers, apple and pear trees, wild grapes, blueberries, raspberries and many other food sources for their honeybees.
Five years ago, the Cressottis learned the craft of making mead, creating their first 5-gallon batch.
“Our learning curve, confidence and skill as brewers grew over the next four years, and now we offer a variety of flavours to our customers,” Tammy Cressotti says. “Making mead is a tough craft. Being beekeepers gives us an edge as we know honey inside and out.”
Last August, they opened Daggers Meadery at 35 North Lane, where customers come to sample their creations.
“Our business has grown and evolved as we have learned more about beekeeping and products made from honey,” she says. “We invested in building a barn first as an area to sell our skincare products, but now with the success of our mead, we have room for mead production, a tasting area and gift shop.”
Currently, customers can enjoy tastings from noon to 6 p.m. on Thursdays through Sundays, and, in the future, they hope to offer a farm-to-table menu by working with other area farms to offer simple food options.
Daggers Meadery now has eight still and two sparkling varieties of mead. “Our traditional meads like ‘Berserker Mead,’ are made with golden honey, while our ‘Prediction Mead’ is made with dark amber honey from Japanese knotweed,” Cressotti says.
They also have fruit mead, called melomel, that is made with pear, blueberry and berry blends. Their pyments, mead crafted from grapes, include “Revenge,” made with red grapes and is naturally carbonated, and they have a white grape called “Longship.”
The business has had ups and downs over the years, but some of the challenges aren’t ordinary ones, Cressotti notes. “Climate changes and bears have us on our toes all the time,” she says. “We have to protect our bees from both.”
Daggers Meadery became the first farm winery established in Granville and has been welcomed by the town and its residents.
“It’s truly a blessing for us to be able to do what we love and have a community to support our effort,” Cressotti says. “We hope people can come out to the country and enjoy what we have to offer.”
To learn more, visit the website, daggersmeadery.com, or call 413-214-5245 to book reservations.
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