UK: York-based Nidhoggr Mead Co increases alcohol sales

From thenorthernecho.co.uk

The founder of a York-based 'meadery' has been inundated with orders for his alcoholic honey mead after he burst into Dragons’ Den with two marauding Vikings last week.

Since the show aired, Peter Taylor has sold 10 times more bottles of mead than usual, as viewers were inspired to recreate their own Viking feasts at home.

He didn’t leave the Den with investment but that hasn’t stopped his Nidhoggr Mead Co business going from strength to strength since he pitched.

He has more than tripled production to 50,000 bottles a year and has proved the Dragons wrong by winning a coveted listing in Morrisons.

Peter first discovered honey mead at Viking re-enactment tournaments. In 2020, inspired by his mother-in-law who brewed homemade mead and in a bid to make some extra cash to buy a new sword, he experimented making his own authentic mead at home using 100 per cent local Yorkshire honey.

As a Viking re-enactor himself, Peter explained how staff from York's Jorvik Centre tried some of his home-made mead at one of his live shows and asked if he was selling it.

He said: "I told my then fiancée (now wife) it would be a small side project - I ended up selling the dining room table and we had honey in the bathtub, it was everywhere.

After starting the business out of his home in Acomb - and then moving to a small commercial space in Skelton - Nidhoggr has since expanded to a 4,000 square foot facility in Pocklington, with plans to grow even further.

Viking re-enactor Peter Taylor says sales of his alcoholic honey mead have soared since his appearance on Dragons Den (Image: GUZELIAN LTD)

He appeared on Dragons Den on Thursday, April 4. On the show, he asked for an £80,000 investment in exchange for a five per cent stake in his company.

Despite receiving positive reactions after the Dragons tasted the honey-based drink, challenges such as investment strategy and the company's heavy Norse branding led them to opt out of the proposed investment.

In response to the Dragons' rejection, Peter had one simple message to prospective drinkers of Nidhoggr Mead: "Try some, it will change your life."

He added: “Dragons’ Den was a surreal experience and it felt very much like going into battle. The Dragons thought mead and its Viking history was niche which is why they didn’t invest - but it just spurred me on to prove them wrong.

“Since appearing on the Den, Nidhoggr Mead Co has secured listings in Morrisons, started exporting to the US, become Warhammer’s official mead, and has more than doubled sales with the business now worth £3m. The Vikings certainly won this battle, and I’ve bought myself five new swords.”

Stafford-born Peter moved to York because of his wife, a fellow Viking actor who came to the city as a student.

"I actually met my wife at the battle of Stamford Bridge, I killed her dad on the battlefield," he said.

"She had already fallen in love with the city, and I fell in love with it too."

Nidhoggr Mead Co is a York-based meadery founded by Peter 2020. The traditional nectar of the gods, mead is brewed with just three ingredients - the finest local and sustainably harvested Yorkshire honey, Yorkshire mineral water and yeast.

Nidhoggr Mead Co’s commitment to tradition runs deep with a revery to the ancient techniques of mead-making as a tribute to Norse mythology.

This dedication results in a range of refreshing, delicately sweet and wonderfully smooth drinks which can be drunk neat or used to create thoroughly modern cocktails.

It produces a range of eight traditional honey meads which include flavours such as traditional mead, elderflower, lemon and lime, sour cherry, raspberry and lemon, apple and rhubarb and Ginger (700ml/350ml 15 per cent ABV).

https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/24246094.york-based-nidhoggr-mead-co-increases-alcohol-sales/ 

Canada: A New Brunswick beverage 10 years in the making, just in time for the eclipse

From msn.com

When John Way started brewing back in 2014, he set aside some of his first batch of mead for a special occasion. 

At the time, he didn't know what that would be. 

Over the next three years his business continued to grow, making mead with the help of family and hundreds of thousands of bees. 

"If you ferment grapes, you get wine," said Way. "Ferment grain, you get beer. Ferment apples, you get cider. If you ferment honey, you get mead." 

As Sunset Heights Meadery and Apiary grew, just outside of Fredericton, that batch of mead waited.

Way says he's sold tickets to an event Monday where he'll share his mead, named, aptly, Totality. (Shane Fowler/CBC News)© Provided by cbc.ca

When 2017 rolled around "and there's the eclipse south of us, and we were like, 'Wow, I wonder when the next eclipse is that's going to hit Fredericton?'" said Way. 

After a quick online search he knew exactly why he was aging his mead. 

"Are you kidding me? Seven years from now? Which will be exactly 10 years from when we started this mead? It all just came together," he said. "It was just like it was meant to be."

Way started immediately preparing for when he'd crack open his aging beverage. But at the time no one he knew was anticipating an eclipse, and no one was taking him seriously. 

The Facebook event he created seven years in advance didn't get a lot of attention. 

"Mostly disbelief," said Way. "Most people were like, 'Yeah, right.'" 

Friends joked with him at the time that they had plans on April 8, 2024, and could he move it a day.

Undeterred, he set out to make something "epic." 

He went about "solera aging" that mead, a term that actually has nothing to do with the sun or the eclipse.

Instead, it's a labour-intensive process of fractionally blending that original mead together with mead from more recent seasons to increase flavour complexity and taste.

Once completed, the mead sat undisturbed for five years until Way moved it into four wooden barrels he imported from Scotland. That's where the aging process finishes, much like whiskey. 

John Way showcases the eclipse glasses he's giving customers that double as a ticket to a second event for the next eclipse passing over Fredericton — in 2079. (Shane Fowler/CBC News)© Provided by cbc.ca

Now as the special day has arrived, Way is having the last laugh. 

"It's a great mix of trepidation and excitement," said Way. "I'm not afraid for the product, the product is amazing, I've tasted it. [It] makes your brain do these frizzly things, it's so complicated." 

He's sold tickets to an event Monday where he'll share his mead, named, aptly, Totality, among friends, family and mead lovers with live music — all under a darkened sky.

"We're actually giving them two tickets, because we're giving them a ticket to the next eclipse too," said Way. "So, you just have to wait until 2079 and we're going to do it again." 

"There is a caveat," said Way. "I have to be alive to host it." 

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/a-new-brunswick-beverage-10-years-in-the-making-just-in-time-for-the-eclipse/ar-BB1lcRUP 

‘Conscious’ drinkers raising a toast to mead culture

From financialexpress.com

With ‘conscious’ consumers leaning towards quality, natural ingredients and exploring new flavours and techniques, mead—a gluten-free alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey with various fruits, herbs and spices—is increasingly making its presence felt in India’s burgeoning liquor market.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating or, in this case, drinking. Moonshine Meadery, one of the few Indian brands offering mead, just celebrated its sixth anniversary, growing at approximately 80% year-on-year since its inception. Similarly, Nashik-based mead brand Cerana Meads is all set to close the financial year at nearly 200% in the top line compared to the previous year.

Even though the industry is still in its nascent stage in India, the size of the global mead market is projected to grow from $487.9 million in 2021 to $1.62 billion in 2028 at a CAGR of 18.71%, as per a report by market research firm Fortune Business Insights.

What makes mead stand out from the crowd is the fact that it is a 100% natural and gluten-free beverage made without synthetic additives. 

“Often referred to as the drink of the gods in Greek mythology, and prevalent in ancient cultures across the world, mead is actually the world’s oldest form of alcohol with references to its existence dating back to 6500 BC,” said Rohan Rehani, co-founder of Pune-based Moonshine Meadery.

What makes mead stand out from the crowd is the fact that it is a 100% natural and gluten-free beverage made without synthetic additives. Image: Freepik

Fermented alco-bevs such as wines are made by fermenting fruit, more commonly grapes, and beers by fermenting malted grains. “Meads use honey as the primary fermentation ingredient,” said Dr Yoginee Budhkar, co-founder and partner at Cerana Meads, adding that their meads are made using ethically sourced honey. “We don’t steal it from the bees, we only take what is in excess,” added Dr Ashwini Deore, Cerana Meads’ other co-founder and partner.

Cerana Meads offers meads in two verticals. One range of meads, called ‘hydromels’ are low-ABV, carbonated meads that come at a pocket-friendly cost of Rs 199 per 330 ml pint. The products in this category are Chenin Blanc Mead, Pomegranate Vanilla Mead, Jamun Mead and Bluepea Lavender Mead. “The second vertical is the standard mead which is in the range of 10-14% ABV. A half bottle (375 ml) of this category is priced at Rs 450 and a full bottle (750 ml) comes for Rs 810. The products in this category are Pinot Noir Mead and Yule Spic. These are currently available in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Nashik and Pune,” added Budhkar.

Moonshine Meadery, too, has a wide range of meads, starting with a ‘lite’ mead at 4.5% ABV—currently with Lemon Tea Mead as the only offering in this segment. “All our other meads are at 6.5% ABV. Our flagship meads—Apple Mead, Coffee Mead and Traditional Mead—are available throughout the year. We also make limited edition/small batch meads in small quantities throughout the year, which we call ‘MeadLABs’. Guava Chilli Mead, Grilled Pineapple Mead and Salted Kokum Mead are some MeadLABs that have gained a lot of popularity,” added Rehani.

With diversity in flavours and the sustainability factor—since the main ingredient is a by-product, mead has a remarkably low carbon and water usage footprint compared to other alcoholic beverages—meads are primarily attracting the young and conscious drinkers. “As alcohol consumption is a matter of familiarity and habit, right now, the most likely age group to be interested in meads is the new LDA (legal drinking age) group, consumers who are in their mid-20s,” said Deore of Cerana Meads.

For Moonshine Meadery, “anyone in the age range of 25-45 years looking for a flavourful drink is our consumer base essentially”, as per Rehani. “We are trying to plug the flavour gap for consumers as they transition from juices and colas to beers and spirits. A consumer’s journey into alcohol doesn’t have to start with an ‘acquired taste’. This fits well with the expectations of the younger India who are looking for more flavourful beverages,” he added.

https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/conscious-drinkers-raising-a-toast-to-mead-culture/3441707/