Trazo Meadery Offers a Taste of Tradition and Innovation in Clarksville, Tennessee

From clarksvilleonline.com 

Clarksville, TN – Spring is the season of bees and trying new things. What better way to be in the spring spirit than trying mead at Trazo Meadery?

Trazo Meadery, named after the founder (Travis) and his grandmother (Zola), opened its doors in 2020 between the Roxy Regional Theatre and Blackhorse Pub & Brewery. Inside is a warm atmosphere with colourful art adorning the walls. Bee imagery can be seen in the additional outdoor seating.

Trazo Meadery all started with some yeast. Travis loved the sourdough bread his grandmother would make every week when he was younger. When Zola passed, she gave the sourdough yeast to Travis. Travis feeds it, keeps it alive to this day, and uses it at the meadery.

What exactly is mead? Mead, known as “nectar from the gods”, is an ancient alcoholic beverage made from fermented honey. The process is very similar to making wine. Collecting honey is a more difficult process than collecting grapes, so wine became the more popular choice.

To make mead, water, and yeast are added to honey. The sugar causes fermentation to occur.

The different flavours of the mead at Trazo come from the different honey used, allowing for an eclectic collection of beverages. Every honey is unique! “While lots of meaderies add spices or fruit, we focus on showcasing the flavour of each particular honey,” said David Powell, Trazo’s “mazer”. Trazo Meadery makes sure the honey is the highlight of the drink.

Trazo serves a wide variety of drinks and cuisine. In addition to mead, Trazo is also famous for their lemonade and ciders. They have created many cocktails using their mead and cider.

                                                                                           Trazo Meadery

During Halloween, you can get a taste of their “Time Warp cocktail,” consisting of mead and a blend of blood orange and rosemary syrups. A “meadarita” is another original from Trazo, using their tequila, barrel-aged mead and citrus juices.

When it comes to good eats, Trazo’s got you covered with a lovely selection of items that pair well with mead and cider! They offer specially sourced charcuterie boards, flatbreads, soups and bruschettas – their Bacon Gouda Grilled Cheese being a fan favourite of customers.

You can also buy mead by the bottle if you would like to take some home with you. Additionally, Trazo Meadery merchandise, such as T-shirts and hats, is available so you can show your support for the business.

Not only does Trazo offer a Halloween-themed drink, they also host a Valentine’s dinner. This year will be their 3rd year offering this experience. At the dinner, they have a fixed-price menu that includes an appetizer, salad, entree, dessert, and drinks.

When we use something from nature, it is important to give back. Trazo Meadery does this by raising awareness for bees and their byproducts.

David says, “We try to offer our customers information about bees and the history of mead when they visit us.” This year, Trazo is doing monthly videos to show how David is taking care of Trazo’s apiary on their Adams farm.

The world is being reintroduced to mead, thanks to Trazo Meadery. Trazo Meadery was the first of its kind in Tennessee so it is very special to both the owners and the City of Clarksville.

“Trazo was the first meadery to be licensed in Tennessee, but we’re happy that more are popping up, like Honey Tree in Nashville,” said David.

It is hoped that with Trazo Meadery, more Clarksvillians can widen their palate and try a taste of a not-so-new sweet treat!

You can find more information about Trazo Meadery, mead, and the bees on their website, www.trazomead.com

You can also order bottles of mead and merchandise.

https://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2024/03/26/trazo-meadery-offers-a-taste-of-tradition-and-innovation-in-clarksville/

UK: Gosnells rebrands mead as ‘hazy nectar’ to compete with cider

From thedrinksbusiness.com

South London-based mead maker Gosnells has rebranded its products as a portfolio of ‘nectars’ in the hope of going head-to-head with cider in the on-trade

“With immediate effect, we have stopped producing mead”, said founder Tom Gosnell.

Instead, it has opted to build a new moniker for its honey-based beverages — hazy nectar. Mead is made by fermenting honey and water with yeast. The category often has medieval connotations, being recognised as one of the oldest alcoholic beverages in the world.

“The word ‘mead’ has musings of high alcohol and Game of Thrones and it has stopped us from creating the future bees merit,” Gosnell said. “It’s not the economy nor the putative shortage of bees, it’s the name. We’ve realised recently that the connotations that go with being ‘the world’s oldest drink’ have proved a barrier to getting new drinkers to grab their first pint of our delicious honey-based drinks”.

According to sales director Cameron McKenzie-Wilde, Gosnells demographic split is a ratio of 65/35 in favour of women with an age profile of 26-35.

Gosnell argues that the shift in branding, changing the name on the labels to ‘hazy nectar’, will help he brand challenge the cider market in the UK on-trade.

“They’re already head-to-head on the bar with cider as they are sparkling, alcoholic and gluten-free,” he said, arguing that while ciders are made from “mass-produced fruit”, Gosnells products are producing using “high-quality honey”. He said: “In some instances, we will add fruit into the recipe, as with Gosnells Raspberry Hibiscus Nectar which contains 67% less sugar than leading fruit ciders.”

According to CGA data, in the year to July 2023 cider was the fastest growing major category in the GB On Premise over the course of the year, growing by 11.8% versus last year—faster growth than any other major drinks category. Rate of sale has been 12.4% ahead, with average outlet sales of £20,501 — a sign that there is opportunity to cash in on the category.

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/03/gosnells-rebrands-mead-as-hazy-nectar-to-compete-with-cider/

Bill Savage’s Lavender-Blackberry Mead Recipe

From meadist.com

Bill Savage used to work for Wild Blossom Meadery in Chicago, IL.  He now brews at Goose Island Beer Co – we wont hold that against him. He still enjoys making and drinking mead. You can take a meadist out of the meadery, but you can’t take the mead out of a meadist!

Bill was nice enough to send me his recipe for a Lavender-Blackberry Mead so I could share with Meadist readers. So here it is – a milestone for the meadist – the first guest recipe.

I enjoyed a Lavender-Blackberry mead that I made about 3 years ago. There’s a nice little all organic & local-grower grocery shop in Edgewater (far North side of Chicago), where I obtained some Lavender flower tips just before they blossomed. I used about a half ounce at the time, making a sort of “tea” concentrate with the Lavender tips. The aroma is amazing!

Ingredients

• 12 lbs. of raspberry honey
• 2 tbs Yeast Energizer
• 1/2 oz Lavender Flower Tips
• Lalvin 71B-1122 Yeast
• 9-10 lbs of blackberries

Directions

1. In a 5 gal. pot, bring 4 gal. of water to a boil for 5 min. let it cool using a Copper Coil Immersion Chiller, & cool the water down to about 160F.
2. Stir in/dissolve 12lbs. of raspberry honey & 2tbs. yeast energizer/yeast hulls.
3. Continue to cool with copper coil chiller to @70F.
4. Make a concentrated “Tea” with the Lavender Flower Tips.
5. Transfer into a 5 gal. carboy & aerate.
6. Finally add your Lavender “tea” to the carboy, stir, & then add your rehydrated yeast/starter.
7. Allow to ferment for 3-4 weeks @ 70F. Then, rack again into another carboy, that has previously been packed with 9-10lbs of blackberries (if desired, 48hours prior to this step, add about 1/4-1/2 tsp. potassium metabisulfite to the blackberries/juice mixture at the bottom of your sanitized 2nd carboy, to ensure bacteria/wild yeast aren’t introduced to your mead). During the rack, also add a second Lavender ‘tea’ concentrate infusion.
8. Let this sit for another 3-4 weeks. Rack a second time, and let age for another 5 months.
9. Bottle afterwards & serve at @ room temp.
10. O.G. – 23.5 Brix. @11.5 – 12% abv.

https://meadist.com/making-mead/mead-recipes/home-made-lavender-blackberry-mead-recipe-by-bill-savage/