UK: Gosnells snaps up second South London site

From thedrinksbusiness.com

Peckham-based meadery, Gosnells Drinks, has announced the acquisition of John the Unicorn (JTU) from the Portobello Pub Group, marking the company’s second venue in South London.

Under the new ownership, all existing JTU staff will remain in place and the venue will keep its name. Gosnells founder Tom Gosnell said: “It’s part of the fabric of Rye Lane. We love how the unicorn – something mythical, unique and just a bit unordinary – fits perfectly with Gosnells’ left-of-centre view of the world. 

“We want to lean into what makes John the Unicorn iconic, while weaving in the Gosnells DNA, moments of unexpected delight, a bit of playfulness, and that feeling that you’ve stumbled into somewhere rare and prized.”

The venue will serve up a pizza menu alongside Gosnells’ Honey Nectars, cocktails, wine, beer and low-ABV pours. Events – from live music events and local collaborations – are also on the cards.

Looking ahead

The company has appointed Chris McGovern, formerly of The Number Group in Hackney Wick, as head of Gosnells retail to oversee the expansion. Plans include extending opening hours and introducing daytime café service with coffee, pastries and locally sourced lunches, catering to remote workers.

Richard Stringer, managing director of the Portobello Pub Company, said: “We have loved our time with John the Unicorn, but it is exciting to see it gain a new lease of life with a truly locally rooted business.”

The operator, who has worked with Gosnells for several years, will now knuckle down on its refurbishment programme, which will continue in the next few weeks at No 32 in Clapham and Westow House in Crystal Palace.

Gosnells: a history

Gosnells’ Sales and Marketing Director, Cameron McKenzie-Wilde, said: “We’re proud of how Gosnells has grown alongside changes and trends in consumer behaviour towards a more balanced lifestyle, especially considering the overall challenges in the drinks and hospitality industries. 

“John the Unicorn gives us the Peckham home we have been looking for and enables us to reach more consumers and grow our community even further. We’re looking forward to the next few months as we grow John the Unicorn into a destination venue for drinks, food, and experiences in South London.”

Founded in 2014, Gosnells brews its Honey Nectars, low-ABV sparkling drinks inspired by craft beer and mead,  in Peckham.

John the Unicorn will join Gosnells’ Bermondsey Bar as a flagship site, with more venues expected to follow in 2026.

Gosnell added: “As both a brand and business, we strongly believe in ‘by Peckham, for Peckham’ so there’s an extra layer of pride that we’re taking over such a storied space in our own backyard. And that we get to share it with the community who’s supported us from the start.”

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/11/gosnells-meadery-in-london-to-open-second-site/ 

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/

UK: Gosnells rebrands sparkling meads in bid to steal share from cider

From thegrocer.co.uk

Urban meadery Gosnells is to rebadge its sparkling honey-based drinks as ‘Nectars’.

The move to rebrand its meads would help Gosnells tap into and revive the cider category, according to founder Tom Gosnell.

The category – worth £1.2bn in grocery [NIQ 52 we 9 September] – was “stagnant” and lacked “the innovation and premiumisation seen in other alcohol categories”, Gosnell said.

“Mass-produced ciders are often laden with refined sugars and synthetic additives, which are out of step with the contemporary consumer’s desires,” he said.

Gosnells’ range of Nectars, he added, could “fill this void” by offering drinkers “an innovative range of low-sugar, gluten-free beverages that don’t compromise on flavour”.

The brand’s session-strength meads – typically those under 6% abv – have already been rebadged as Nectars in the on-trade. Its cans will start to roll out in the new year.

Gosnells’ higher abv and still drinks would retain the mead badge to clearly differentiate them from the products it offered on draught and in 440ml cans, Gosnell said.

“The way that people use these drinks is different,” he said. “Our fizzy pints and tins of Nectar are designed to be consumed like a beer or cider. Our more traditional meads are more like wines.”

Early feedback to the change from the on-trade had been “really positive”, helping to improve rate of sale and understanding of what the products were, he added.

                              Gosnells meads could help revive the cider category, founder Tom Gosnell said

The move came as Gosnells announced a £500,000 equity raise.

The south London drinks company said it would use the funds – half of which have already been committed by existing shareholders – to expand in the on-trade, and build a second bar to go alongside its inaugural venue in Bermondsey.

Gosnells drinks are stocked in venues including Daisy Green, Cubitt House, Drake & Morgan and Brewdog, as well as independent pubs and restaurants across London.

Gosnell said overfunding would enable the mead-maker to ramp up its efforts in the off-trade, which presently only accounts for 25% of sales.

“We’d love to get a grocery listing but it’s really competitive, especially in the cider space,” he said. “Right now, our aim is to build awareness in the on-trade to the point where supermarkets are clamouring for it.”

https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/alcohol/gosnells-rebrands-sparkling-meads-in-bid-to-steal-share-from-cider/684956.article 

Mead is on the rise as brewers target a younger crowd

From thecaterer.com 

Mead is growing in popularity due to a new wave of brewers targeting a younger crowd. Meet producer Tom Gosnell

What does Norse mythology have in common with an industrial estate in London's Peckham? The answer is mead, the honey-flavoured drink believed to be one of the world's oldest alcoholic beverages. Archaeologists have found evidence of its presence in Chinese pottery dating from 7000 BCE and it's mentioned in the works of Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle and the Old English epic poem Beowulf. But can mead be marketed to a 21st-century crowd?

That's the mission of Tom Gosnell, who founded London's first and only meadery, Gosnells, in 2014. Although its mead is produced in Peckham, in 2022 the team opened their first taproom on the Bermondsey Beer Mile, joining the craft beer and cider brewers that make up the popular drinking trail.

"I'd always been interested in fermentation and making alcohol," says Gosnell. "I used to make cider and started getting interested in honey. Bees are amazing creatures that are important to all our ecosystems. I wanted to take that natural product and turn it into drink and that's where we started from."

In its simplest form, mead is made by fermenting honey and water to create a pale-yellow alcohol, sometimes with the addition of fruits or spices. Its alcohol content can range from around 3.5% ABV to more than 20% ABV and it can be still, carbonated or naturally sparkling.

Mead can take on different flavours depending on the diet of the bees producing the honey. Gosnell's core range is created using honey from an area full of orange blossom, which gives the drink a light, crisp citrus flavour at 5.5% ABV. Other varieties include a pink Hibiscus mead, made with European blossom honey packed with dried hibiscus flowers (4% ABV), and a Citrus Sea mead blended with lemon, tarragon and hops with a saltier finish (4% ABV).

The global mead market was worth $432m (£345m) in 2020 and is projected to grow to over $1.6b (£1.3b) in 2028, according to Fortune Business Insights. Gosnell says there is a rise in brands entering the space and he is keen to market mead as a modern, sustainable drink, rather than focusing on its history.

Sweet success

Since its opening last year, the Bermondsey tap room has helped the mead brand reach a wider, urban crowd.

"It gets absolutely packed [there] on a sunny day," says Gosnell. "It's been really good for us to broaden our audience a bit. We talk about bees and honey more than we talk about any of the negative historical connotations around Beowulf or Vikings. We're really far away from that. We're really proud of the liquid we make and want everyone to enjoy it and understand the link with the honey and the natural world."

The bid to broaden mead's appeal so far seems to have paid off. Gosnells is stocked in around 75 hospitality venues, including the Daisy Green Collection, Drake & Morgan and BrewDog. Some 70% of the sites, which are mostly in London, pour Gosnells on draught while the other 30% stock its cans.

Gosnell is passionate about sustainability and is keen for the business to remain ethical as it grows. The company is in the midst of an audit by B Corp, a non-profit which gives accreditation to businesses aiming to have a positive impact on people and the planet. This rigorous assessment of its environmental, social and governance policies is expected to take around 18 months and Gosnell hopes the meadery will gain certification by the end of the year.

"Something we are constantly working to is looking at how we reduce our [carbon] footprint as a business," he explains. "It's hard to make a specific claim against other products, but, compared to beer, [mead] is a lot less energy-intensive. You're not breaking down the grain to make sugar – the sugar is there in the honey. From that perspective, it's probably slightly more sustainable in terms of carbon footprint."

This sustainable ethos has extended into several of Gosnells' partnerships. For every pint of its Wild Flower Mead sold, the meadery donates 5p to support the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, a charity which works to protect bees and other pollinators from a decline in their numbers.

Fishy business

Over the summer, the Bermondsey taproom has been hosting crawfish boils, serving customers the invasive American signal crayfish by the bucket. These events have seen Gosnells team up with Bob Ring, also known as ‘Crayfish Bob', an expert who has a licence to harvest the species from UK waters to protect the indigenous population.

Gosnell admits his sustainable focus can sometimes clash with the company's commercial aims, but says the meadery tries to marry the two together.

"Recycling is a classic example, it makes good financial sense because it's cheaper than normal waste. Or making sure the lights are turned off and reducing our energy consumption because it saves us money. There are a lot of things that go hand in hand."

Gosnells is looking at securing investment to help it expand into more pubs and restaurants and has plans to open a second retail location next year.

"It's really important for us as a young company to build a good company that people want to work for and want to buy from," adds Gosnell. "We're definitely not making the world a worse place."

https://www.thecaterer.com/sector/pub-bar/mead-on-the-rise-target-younger-crowd

Gosnells opens mead bar in Bermondsey, London

From beertoday.co.uk

Gosnells, London’s only meadery, has opened a mead bar in a railway arch in Bermondsey, with capacity for more than 100 drinkers and outdoor space, too.

The bar’s draught selection is led by its new dry Wildflower Mead (4% ABV), which is drawn from the nectar of 45 species of flowers, bushes, and trees. It is gluten free and sparkling, with no added sulphites, made from a brew using 100% honey and with no added sugar.

“So many people are popping by to see what it’s all about, and we are excited to be able to offer them such a wide range of flavours, from 0% to 12% ABV,” said Tom Gosnell.

“The bar will provide a thought-provoking showcase and hopefully encourage guests to sample one of head brewer Will Grubelnik’s iterations of the world’s oldest alcoholic drink, mead. Our meads are based on just honey and water, fermented to show the brilliance of the honeybee and its flowers.”

He added: “The new bar has opened just in time for the London Marathon on Sunday, 2nd October. The race passes through Bermondsey, so what better way for guests to re-invigorate all the senses than by visiting the Bermondsey Mead Mile, surrounded by a cornucopia of amazing brewers.”

The mead bar will serve seven other meads on tap, including Raspberry Wildflower (5.4% ABV), Sweet Cherry (8% ABV) and a cloudy Mojito Mead at 5.5% ABV. There be 75cl bottles of Gosnells 5.5% ABV Classic and of Gosnells 12% ABV vintages, dating back to 2019. A range of 4% ABV canned meads, including Sour, Pink Hibiscus, and Hopped, will also be available.

Gosnells Wildflower Mead is already available in Portobello pubs in London, Laines pubs, Brewdog pubs, and independents.  It is also in 440ml cans.

https://beertoday.co.uk/2022/09/30/gosnells-mead-bar-0922/

 

Gosnells Of London Has Xmas Sorted With New "Mulled Mead" Bag-In Box

From beerguild.co.uk/news

Gosnells of Peckham has taken its winter drinks offering to new heights with the launch of a 5 litre and a 10 litre bag-in-box of exotically spiced mulled mead.

Gosnells will be selling the boxes in 5 litre boxes for retail at £30, with free UK mainland delivery; or in 10 litre containers at £45 for parties – or for the growing numbers of pubs and bars intrigued by the potential of mead.

Gosnells Head Meaderer, Will Grubelnik comments:

“As Christmas is in summer in Australia, I’m pretty new to mulling; and people tell me that mulled wine is hard to get right consistently as the character of the red wine can vary from thin and weedy, to gargantuan Shiraz and Malbecs. So the amount of sugar, spices, orange peel or sweet liqueurs varies loads every time.

“Mead is more fortunate than red wine as it has complex sugars from the honeys with natural balance, and it has a breadth to its flavour profile which is useful in mulling. Mead also loves spices. So what we have produced for 2021 is a recipe made of very floral wildflower honey, with zero added sugars. We have drastically cut back on our use of cinnamon, as we found in the past that it took the edge off the brilliance of all the other spices. We have then added bitter orange peel, juniper, fresh cloves, nutmeg, star anise and green cardamom to our new recipe. The result is a mulled mead which can be served as it is, or pimped to please individual palates with the likes of rum, pomegranate molasses, apple juice or tequila, or served cold on ice.”

Tom Gosnell adds: “We sold Gosnells Mead in cans in 2020 and had great response from so many stay-at-home experimenters; but we thought that we should be more about party-time in Xmas 2021, and the bigger format seem to have hit the spot!”

https://www.beerguild.co.uk/news/gosnells-has-halloween-xmas-sorted-new-mulled-mead-bag-in-box-serve-hot-or-cold/

Gosnells launches al fresco mead bar

From harpers.co.uk

Tom Gosnell, creator of London’s only Meadery, is growing his microbrewing empire via the opening of a bee-friendly Garden and Mead Bar in uptown Peckham.

Having established his reputation as a 21st-century mead pioneer, introducing his modern take on an ancient drink to a hip London crowd, Gosnell’s new outdoor area will feature 14 different sparkling meads with three on draught, five in bottle and six in cans. 

Frozen cocktails, including Meadacoladas (rum) and Meaderitas (tequila) will also feature alongside wine-inspired meads, including a Chardonnay-style ‘house white’, made using Chardonnay yeast, barrel fermented in ex-Burgundy barrels with three to four months’ lees ageing. The house red will be an 11% abv Pinot Noir-style of mead.

The venue is open on Fridays and Saturdays.

GOSNELLS MEAD GARDEN: Unit 2, Print Village, Chadwick Road SE15 4PU

gosnells.co.uk

https://harpers.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/28774/Gosnells_launches_al_fresco_mead_bar_.html

Gosnells ramps up collaborations

From harpers.co.uk

London meadery Gosnells of Peckham has unveiled a series of new collaborations. 

Next month, the business is set to launch a 0% sparkling fruit ‘shrub’ with Square Root Soda of Hackney, which will be followed by a collaboration with Cloudwater Brewery of Manchester that will see Gosnells’ meads blended with pale ales in cherry, beer and port barrels. 

Last year, Gosnells took the unusual step of collaborating with a Sake, conjuring up an unconventional Kanpai Bee Sake at 13% abv in collaboration with Kanpai Sake of Peckham.  

Having “not looked back since”, it followed this launch up with a tie-in with Hawkes cider in February this year, blending Dabinett cider apples with Gosnells’ Hopped mead to produce a 5.5% ‘Cyser’.

“Collaborations are a Key strategy for us in 2021,” said founder Tom Gosnell.

“Collaborations are exhilarating as both we and our partners want to coax different nuances from the final liquid. So, it’s a give and take, and that often leads to the creation of an out-of-the-normal mead,” he said. 

“Our honeys are such a great elixir. They provide sweetness and depth all in one – and the meads they create add complexity to cocktails and to an astonishing range of drinks.”

Looking ahead, Gosnell added that the business would also start more collaborations with bees, “rather than just expecting them to help us”, with the aim to help them and other pollinators in central London through new nectar-rich plantings.

“Bees are amazing creatures, and we all need to understand their needs better, so as to ensure that they have the right food supplies all the way through the year,” he said.

In July 2019, Gosnells claimed a European first with the launch of mead in cans.

https://harpers.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/28647/Gosnells_ramps_up_collaborations.html

Gosnells and Anspach & Hobday launch Peckham drinks pop-up

From thelondoneconomic.com

Available for takeaway only, for now, meaderers Gosnells and brewers Anspach & Hobday will launch a weekly Saturday pop-up outside the Peckham meadery

London's only meadery, Gosnells, has collaborated with south London brewers, Anspach & Hobday, to launch a weekly pop-up outside Gosnells’ production hub in Peckham.

Taking place from Saturday 13th June – and on every Saturday, between 12pm and 7pm –a selection of cans will be available for sale. The drinks will be solely available for takeaway at the moment, but alfresco seating will be introduced later in the summer, as lockdown restrictions are loosened.

“We have so much space outside the meadery,” said Tom Gosnell, founder of Gosnells, “and this will be a great opportunity to introduce visitors to what Anspach & Hobday and ourselves have to offer.

“I am personally besotted by honey and I want to show the flavour-inspiring cleverness of the bee.
“All of our meads are sparkling and gluten-free. Our 0.5% kombucha-like LOW ALC is our starting point, launched in January; then you move on to our brightly coloured 4% abv cans – Sour, Pink Hibiscus, Citra Sea and Hopped – launched last autumn; and our 5.5% orange blossom honey Classic.
“For real mead enthusiasts, we will also be selling our postcode-specific and vintage meads which range from 6-12% abv.

“Every Saturday, I envisage that our iced cocktail slush machine will be working overtime as we’ll be offering our iconic Meadaritas, and maybe a cocktail combining Anspach & Hobday Porter with rum and mead.”   

Anspach & Hobday Co-founder, Jack Hobday, added: “It’s going to be a collaboration with a difference. When Tom suggested it, it seemed such an obvious win-win, both for our customers and for theirs. Our Bermondsey Taproom and The Pigeon, our bar in Camberwell, are gearing up to sell takeaway draught – but this collab will allow us to get back in the real world that much sooner. And to have a bit of much missed fun.

“We will be offering 10% off ten or more cans, and we aim to have core range beers such as The Pale Ale (4.4%), The IPA (6.0%), The Cream Ale (4.5%) and The Lager (4.7%) available along with any specials, so the selection will change week on week.”

The Gosnells x Anspach & Hobday pop-up will take place each Saturday at Gosnells Meadery, Print Village, Chadwick Road, SE15 4PU. 

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/food-drink/gosnells-anspach-hobday-pop-up/11/06/

'Game of Thrones' brought an ancient drink back from the dead — here's what mead really is and how to drink it

By Tom Murray
From businessinsider.com

Mead is coming.
Thanks to the likes of "Game of Thrones" and the surge in popularity of other fantasy series, mead — the ancient alcoholic beverage made from honey — is making a comeback.
Mead, which is probably the world's oldest alcoholic drink, fell out of popularity when improved medieval farming methods produced cheaper alternatives like beer, and later when West Indian sugar imports reduced the incentives to keep bees.
Mead kept a cult following, though, thanks to its association with medieval and fantasy thematics — it's a popular choice at medieval tournaments and fayres.

                  King Robert Baratheon drinks from a horn in 'Game of Thrones' season one.

                                                                         HBO                                           

However, mead is not just the sickly reserve of castle gift shops. In recent years, mead has rebounded. Its affinity with "Thrones" fans and the rise of "craft" has jetpacked the beverage to lofty new heights both in terms of volume and taste.

A 2017 industry report from the American Mead Makers Association found that the number of meaderies in the US has risen from just 30 in 2003 to 300 in early 2016.
According to The Drinks Business, 67% of American meaderies have been open for less than five years.
Tom Gosnell, the founder of Gosnells of London mead, told Business Insider that sales were up 60% year on year, and that the majority of his fellow mead makers or "mazers" were seeing similar gains.

                                    Tom Gosnell, founder of Gosnells mead. (Gosnells)

Business Insider spoke to Gosnell about why mead is more than just a novelty, and how it should be enjoyed.

Good mead is made from honey

It sounds like a no-brainer but, actually, not all meads are made from honey alone. Because honey is expensive, some producers will bulk out their liquid with apple or grape juice, which provides the sweetness without the cost.
This isn't the Gosnells way.
"We always make everything just with honey — there's nothing else in there," Gosnell told us.
"A castle gift shop mead is really sweet and really strong — [it] gives you a really thick hangover. Ours is really light, fresh, and crisp. It's quite a different drink really."
Part of the success of Gosnells mead is down to its low ABV content — 5.5%, which feeds into a larger trend as consumers look for lower alcohol options.
"It kind of reminds me of summer a bit really," Gosnell said. "You can taste the flora, you can taste the citrus, it's crisp, it's fresh, it's light, it's not heavy, it's not sweet, it's not strong."
Gosnells brews its mead by dissolving a Spanish orange blossom honey in warm water before transferring the mixture to a fermenter, where a pilsner yeast is added, and leaving it for a week.

                                                 The Gosnells mead team. (Gosnells) 

Mead makes a mean cocktail

While drinking mead from an ivory horn or a flagon might seem appealing to any fans of Middle Earth and beyond, mead is actually a great lengthener and a sweetener in cocktails, Gosnell said.

While the classic way to serve mead is chilled right down, in a glass, all on its own, Gosnell has found some cocktails that mead compliments particularly well.
"We have a nice gin one, which is a play on a French 75," he said.
"It's gin, lemon juice, topped off with mead.
"Another one which is nice, is a bit like a dark and stormy with ginger, dark rum, and lime muddled together and topped up with Gosnells."

In terms of what you should eat with mead, spicy, fatty dishes are optimum, as are hard cheeses. "There's a really good northern Thai restaurant in Soho [London] that serves our mead, and it cuts through the spiciness," Gosnell said.

'We'd like to create a product that can stand on its own ... that's a lot more interesting than the 'Game of Thrones' bit'

While Gosnell is happy that the popularity of shows like 'Game of Thrones' are increasing mead awareness, he said he wants his product to be able to stand on its own "without needing that kind of baggage."
"There are a couple of entry points where people have heard about it and actually that helps people understand that it's a thing and then we can take them on this sort of honey journey, and that's a lot more interesting than the 'Game of Thrones' bit," Gosnell said.
"So it can only help in terms of giving people even just a nugget of a reference point here and there."

https://www.businessinsider.com/game-of-thrones-has-brought-mead-back-from-the-dead-2019-6?r=US&IR=T