From krqe.com
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — Honey, water, and yeast. Those are the main ingredients behind a recently opened spot in Nob Hill. Although it may sound simple, the owners assure that the process is a labour of love.
“We really do want to make it like an immersive experience,” said Bernie, who owns 4 Norsemen’s Mead alongside her husband CJ Daniels. “Technically it’s like a wine, it’s a honey wine, but we try not to have a wine vibe. We really want it to feel… you know, when you walk in, and we have that communal, long table filled, where everybody is either family or friends, no matter who you are.”
4 Norsemen’s Mead is not your typical drinking hole. The inspiration behind Albuquerque’s only meadery is rooted in ancestry, tradition, and most of all, family. For Daniels, mead started out as a hobby to further explore his Norse and Scandinavian heritage. As his homemade mead collection multiplied, he started giving out bottles to friends and family, who’d come back for seconds. That success prompted the idea of selling it.
Cut to today, and the meadery opened its doors for the first time this past Saturday, where there was a wide array of people looking to try out some local mead – from bikers, to fairies, and even businessmen. One of the best sellers of the night was “Ravenstorm,” which is mead with cocoa nibs, hazelnut, and vanilla. Another popular choice was a mead made with home-harvested prickly pears – a combination aiming to fuse Norse with New Mexico.
One key focus while creating these drinks? A traditional process with fresh ingredients. To the owners, it’s a way of sticking to the ancestral roots behind the meadery. “One of the things that we really strive for is all natural ingredients, so we don’t use any juices from concentrate… Our fruits are all fresh fruit. Any of our herbs or other things are all fresh,” said Daniels. “We don’t use hazelnut powder, we use actual hazelnuts.”
4 Norsemen’s is one of three meaderies in New Mexico – there’s also Mystic Ambrosia in Santa Fe, and the Dark Stranger in Carlsbad. Bernie says they all have a different feel – Santa Fe’s meads are a bit artsy, the Dark Stranger has a piratey vibe, and as for 4 Norsemen’s, they have a more classic, traditional, “viking” approach to their mead. One mead tidbit to note – each batch ends up just slightly different, according to Daniels, seeing how “bees don’t always harvest the honey exactly the same, from the same exact flowers, in the same exact quantity.”
Overall, Daniels and Bernie simply hope their mead brings enjoyment. “It’s just been really a labor of love… Our family has helped a whole lot with everything and so that’s has been really awesome too,” said Bernie. “Like I say, we’re creating a community here for anybody and everybody.”
The meadery at 3417 Central Ave is open from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday through Sunday.
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