Somerville, New Jersey: Middlemist Meadery Blends Traditional Alcoholic Beverages with Contemporary Flair

From tapinto.net

SOMERVILLE, NJ – Middlemist Honey Wine and Cider, a new meadery, has opened up on 30 East Main St.

Honey wine (also known as mead) is an alcoholic drink made by fermenting honey and is often described as the world’s oldest alcoholic beverage, 

Middlemist is making mead modern. While mead is comparatively rare, it is experiencing a revival of interest and has become one of the fastest growing alcoholic beverages by demand.

Middlemist uses hundreds of gallons of local honey in their process and produces a wide array of flavoured honey-based beverages with natural fruit, hops, and spices. The ability to create such a broad range of flavours means there is something for everyone – whether you prefer beer, cider, wine, or traditional mead. 

Wine drinkers may enjoy the limon cello honey wine and beer drinkers might like the citra hop mead, the two most popular flavours. For mead purists, the local wildflower honey mead might be the most appealing drink on the menu.

 Most meads on tap at Middlemist are comparable in strength to wine, but lower alcohol content cider is available. Non-alcoholic honey sodas, coffee, and tea are also available for those who prefer to join friends without the pressure to engage in drinking alcohol. Middlemist has bottles of their most popular flavours for purchase and is planning to start shipping bottles directly to customers soon.

The large space is decorated entirely with natural materials and over 300 living plants, provided by the nearby indoor plant store, Spotted Leaf. The tanks used to produce the mead and cider are essential and are prominently displayed. The owners describe the decor as reflecting the beverage they make – a combination of nature and technology that is pleasant and enjoyable for customers. 

As a passion project, the owners - Ryan Guasp, Ilija Melentijevic and Caleb Ahles - constructed almost all the furniture and decor themselves. The comfortable seating invites a long, relaxed stay. Brand-new outdoor seating is available for those who prefer to enjoy a drink outside in the beautiful summer weather.

Middlemist is open seven days a week. If you’re looking for something to do, especially on a weeknight, Middlemist hosts frequent events including a boardgame night every Monday, trivia night every Tuesday, and live music every Friday night. The musical genres vary from rock, jazz, pop, and many performers will take requests.

Middlemist frequently holds interesting one-off events such as paint and sips, book swaps, mahjong, flower-arranging and cheese-making classes. Middlemist’s goal is to provide a space where all people can relax, socialize, meet new friends, and make long-lasting connections.

 If you’d like to host your own event, Middlemist is also available for booking private parties and can easily re-arrange the tables, chairs, and plant shelves to accommodate parties up to 120 guests.

The meadery is BYOF (bring your own food) and customers should feel free to bring in lunch, dinner, or a snack of their choice to eat while enjoying a beverage. There is a selection of pre-packaged snacks such as danishes, cookies, chips, and cheeseboards for anyone looking for a light snack.

Whether you’ve never tried a mead in your life, or whether you’re already an aficionado, come try New Jersey’s newest meadery now open in bustling downtown Somerville.

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/somerville/sections/food-and-drink/articles/something-old-something-new-something-sweet-in-downtown-somerville-middlemist-meadery-blends-traditional-alcoholic-beverages-with-contemporary-flair

Mead: History, Myths & Legends

From kinsalemeadco.ie

Mead has a long and glorious history. We have been making and drinking mead since we first managed honeybees and took their honey, since before we invented the wheel!

Learn a little about this fascinating stories, global history, myths and legends 

Mead is the oldest alcohol in the world

Mead (Miodh in Irish) or even Meade, is the world’s oldest alcoholic drink, referred to as nectar of the gods, ambrosia, honey wine or honeymoon wine. The earliest discovery of a drink fermented from honey was in northern China in 6500 BC. This means that mead is older than the wheel! In Europe, mead traces were found in ceramics from 2800-1800 BC including in Northern Scotland. This archaeological culture is known as the Beaker culture for its distinctive pottery drinking beakers.

It is the nectar of the gods in Greek mythology, drink of goddesses and was drunk in Roman times. Romans also drank wine sweetened with a spice honey syrup, technically called a Mulsum, which is often confused with authentic mead. It is the national drink of Ethiopia.

Mead is woven through global history

Another stunning discovery of mead was made in a Celtic chieftain’s wagon grave at Hochdorf near Stuttgart, Germany and dated back to 600BC. At his feet was a large bronze cauldron decorated with three lions on the rim. Mead residue was found in the cauldron and it would have held over 400 litres of mead. Along the chamber wall, eight drinking horns made of auroch horn were suspended from the chamber wall with the ninth made from iron and inlaid strips of gold and would have held five litres of mead. Luckily the celtic warrior was a giant for his time and measured at 6’2”. So he would have towered over his drinking buddies.

Ancient Irish Mead

Linguistic evidence points to bees and honey being present in Ireland prior to Christianity. Many references are made to Mead in ancient Ireland – The Tuatha De Danann Children of Lir legend references Fionnuala recalling drinking a pleasant mead of hazel nuts from four-lipped drinking cups with her family before she and her brothers were changed into swans and exiled for 900 years.

The Hill of Tara, seat of the ancient High Kings of Ireland contained the great banqueting hall known as Tech Midchuarta, The Great Mead Hall of Tara. This was a huge timber building some 45 feet high and slept up to 1,000 people. Here they drank mead from methers, large wooden mead sharing vessels with four lips and four handles.

Bealtaine or Beltane

The origins of Bealtaine or Beltane are almost as old as Irish mead itself. There are many folk beliefs some of which have pagan origins. Held at the start of May at the halfway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, the High King would call the local chieftains and their people together to dance around bonfires and drink mead to welcome the start of summer and generally have a good time. They would perform rituals to protect them from harm and to promote new growth and fertility. 

Cnoc Uisneach

Bealtaine or Bel taine in Old Irish, is often associated with the Hill of Uisneach (Cnoc Uisneach) in Co. Westmeath, well worth a visit. Archaeologists have confirmed the there are extensive layers of charcoal and evidence of huge fires on the hill. Though the hill is only 600 feet tall, on a clear day, you can see as far as 20 counties from the top.

St Molaga

Linguistic evidence points to honeybees and honey were present in Ireland from pre-Christian times. Beekeeping skills were bought to Ireland in the 5th century AD by a Irish monk named Modomnóc, or St Molaige, founder of the original settlement in Timoleague Tigh Molaige, not far from Kinsale along the Wild Atlantic Way.

He studied in monasteries in Iona, Scotland and in St David’s monastery in Wales, where he trained as a beekeeper. When he was sent home to start converting us to Christianity, it is said that his bees missed him and followed his ship across the Irish Sea. Irish words in for things like hive and beekeeper start to appear in the language.

St Gobnait

St Gobnait, born in the 5th-6th century, is Ireland’s patron saint of bees and beekeepers and associated with Ballyvourney in North Cork.

Gobnait is Irish for Abigail meaning ‘brings joy,’ also anglicised to Deborah. She developed a lifelong affinity with bees and was said to have control over her bees. It is believed in Celtic lore that the soul left the body as a bee or butterfly. Many legends attest to her swarms driving off raiders of her village.

It is this legend that inspired the Harry Clarke‘s stain glass window in the Honan Chapel at University College Cork. The beautiful window, finished in 1916, shows Gobnait surrounded by her bees; at her feet she is carrying a honeycomb and bees are depicted chasing away the thieves who are threatening her abbey.

Bee Judgements

Brehon Laws – Brehons were roving magistrates appointed by local kings and chieftains to arbitrate and settle disputes and help define the laws. Bechbreatha were a subset of Brehon Laws concerns with the value and protection of bees and honey. They were written down around the 7th century but were memorised and passed from Brehon to Brehon orally across the land for many centuries before that. We can learn a lot from the importance they placed on bees.

Bees were subject to laws of trespass, so a beekeeper had to give a certain amount of his honey to his neighbours where the bees foraged, depending on the quality of their meadows and orchards and abundance of nectar.

Bees that swarmed were subjected to similar rules, the original owner of the bees had rights over a certain portion of the honey. They were entitled to 1/3 of honey made in other people’s land for 3 years, depending on the ownership of the land where they were captured.

Bees were punished for stinging people. You were granted a “sufficiency” or a meal of honey if you swore an oath that you had not provoked the bees. The Brehon would draw lots on hives where they suspected the bee came from; the hive selected was forfeit for the crime of the one bee.

Bee sting in the eye – this was brought in by King Congal the one eyed, one of our earliest High Kings who had been blinded by bees. He lost his kingship, because Kings were supposed to be perfect. But he did get to keep the forfeited hive and bees.

Vikings loved Mead

Mead is all over Norse and Viking mythology. The she-goat called Heidrun who feeds on the green branches of the great world tree called Yggdrasil. From her udders flows a never ending stream of mead into a barrel in Valhalla. This supplied Odin’s chosen warriors with mead for their great feast. Valhalla, the Viking heaven, is a Great Mead Hall.

The action in Beowulf, the Old English epic poem of heroes, mead and monsters takes place in a huge mead hall called Heorot belonging to King Hrothgar. This is where the Beowulf slays the monster Grendel.

Tudor Mead

The English privateer, poet, scientist and philosopher Sir Kenelm Digby collected over 100 recipes for mead from the great houses and palaces of England in a book published in 1669. The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie Kt Opened. This includes the favourite mead of queens and lords, heavily flavoured with herbs and spices. He lead a fantastic life.

Queen Elizabeth I‘s favourite mead recipe was captured in a book by her beekeeper Charles Butler, which was heavily flavoured with sweetbriar, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary.

Transcription by Justin du Coeur.

One excellent Receipt I will here recite: and it is of that which our renowned
Queen Elizabeth, of happy memory, did so well like, that she would every year have
a vessel of it.
First, gather a bushel of Sweet-briar-leaves, and a bushel of Thyme, half a bushel of
Rosemary, and a peck of Bay-leaves. Seeth all these (being well washed) in a
Furnace of fair water:
let them boil the space of half an hour, or better: and then pour out all the water and
herbs into a Vat, and let it stand till it be but milk-warm: then strain the water from
the herbs, and take to every six Gallons of water one Gallon of the finest Honey, and
put it into the Born, and labor it together half an hour: then let it stand two days,
stirring it well twice or thrice each day. Then take the Liquor and boil it anew: and
when it doeth (?seed?), skim it as long as there remaineth any Dross. When it is
clear, put it into the Vat as before, and there let it be cooled. You must then have in a
readiness a Kive of new Ale or Beer, which as soon as you have emptied, suddenly
whelm it upside down, and set it up again, and presently put in the Metheglen, and let
it stand three days a working. And then tun it up in Barrels, tying at every Tap-hole
(by a Pack-thread) a little bag of beaten Cloves and Mace, to the value of an ounce. It
must stand half a year before it be drunk.

Mead in the 19th Century

Why mead disappeared as sugar arrived from New World and displaced mead in 16th-17th century. Honey was replaced by sugar cane from the America’s, whale oil for lighting instead of candles made from bees wax. Beers, ales and wines became cheaper to make in general. Natural forests cut down resulting in a massive loss of habitat and forage sources for bees and the destruction of our monasteries in religious wars lead to a loss of expertise in beekeeping.

By the time we get to the 19th century, Mead had all but disappeared. The last commercial meadery was in Dublin in the south inner city – John Donaghoe and Co. in the Freeman Journal Newspaper in 1822. He sold pipes of mead (a pipe is a port barrel, a bit bigger than a whiskey cask) and he had 200 of them on sale. He was selling his Mead and Metheglin as a “healthful beverage” for 4 shillings 4d per gallon. This is the inspiration for our wine barrel aged meads.

Kinsale Meadery is the first commercial meadery in Ireland since then, 200 years later.

https://www.kinsalemeadco.ie/history-of-mead/

How One Mississippi Meadery Is Rewriting Mead's Reputation

From forbes.com

By Emily Cappiello

Once associated with medieval feasts and sweetness, mead is finding new life through dry styles, local honey and a new generation of producers changing how Americans think about the category 

For many Americans, mead conjures images of medieval banquets, Vikings and Renaissance fairs. But a growing number of producers are working to reshape that perception, introducing drinkers to styles that are dry, complex and every bit as nuanced as wine.

In Tupelo, MS, Queen's Reward Meadery has become part of that movement. Founded by Jeri Carter, the meadery has grown from a homebrewing hobby into one of the South's fastest-growing mead producers, proving that honey-based wine can appeal to far more than history buffs.

The idea began almost by accident while Jeri Carter was dabbling in homemade mead.

"We went to a local liquor store to buy some commercially made mead to compare with our homemade version, only to discover that mead wasn't available for purchase in Mississippi," Carter says. "We immediately realized we had stumbled upon a potential opportunity."

There was one problem: Their first batch wasn't very good.

"It tasted more like moonshine than mead," she laughs.

But, she didn’t give up. After refining recipes, attending the American Mead Makers Association conference and earning silver and bronze medals at an international competition, Carter realized their homemade mead could compete with commercial producers. And then, Queen’s Reward Meadery was born.

"This gap in the market is what first sparked our thoughts on opening a commercial Meadery. We knew Mississippi needed its own Meadery, especially if we could make that mead using all Mississippi honey," she says.

                                                              Jeri Carter, owner and founder of Queen's Reward Meadery.   Jeri Carter

That emphasis on local honey remains central to the brand’s identity. Unlike grape wine, where terroir begins in the vineyard, mead reflects the floral sources bees visit throughout the season. Carter believes using Mississippi honey allows each bottle to capture a distinct sense of place while also supporting local beekeepers and pollinator health.

"Making wine from honey is very similar to making wine from grapes in that where the honey comes from and even the season of the year has a big impact on the taste of the honey and ultimately our final product."

That philosophy has also helped change visitors’ expectations about what mead can be. Many guests arrive assuming every mead will be intensely sweet. Instead, Queen's Reward begins tastings with its driest expressions before gradually introducing sweeter styles.

"For wine lovers, this is a great introduction to the category because it stays close to their comfort zone, and they are often surprised at how sophisticated and 'wine-like’ mead can be," she says.

While traditional meads remain part of the line-up, Carter has embraced creativity, incorporating ingredients ranging from fruit and wine grapes to peppers, spices and chocolate.

"Honey is at the heart of every product we make... Our imagination is the only limit," she explains.

Beyond the bottles, Queen's Reward has become a destination for both locals and visitors.

Carter envisioned a welcoming tasting room where people—regardless of their familiarity with wine or mead—could gather, celebrate and learn something new. Although some questioned the idea before opening, the space has since evolved into a community gathering place and tourism destination.

As interest in mead continues growing across the United States, Carter believes the category's greatest strength is its diversity.

"You could visit a dozen different meaderies and have a different tasting experience at each and that much diversity means that everyone can find a mead they love," she says.

For Queen's Reward, that momentum has translated into rapid expansion. The meadery now distributes throughout several Southern states, ships to customers in 41 states and is preparing to relocate to a significantly larger facility to keep pace with demand.

For Carter, that's proof that America's oldest fermented beverage still has plenty of new stories left to tell.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilycappiello/2026/07/03/how-one-mississippi-meadery-is-rewriting-meads-reputation/

Misbeehavin’ Meads brings their honeywine, and pinball machine, to Michigan City

From nwitimes.com 

MICHIGAN CITY — When Clint and Jill Wadsworth first started Misbeehavin’ Meads 10 years ago, they weren’t sure what to expect.

“We didn’t know if a meadery would work in the Region,” Clint Wadsworth said. “We still don’t. I guess the joke's on us.”

The Wadsworths opened up their new taproom in Michigan City last week, after relocating from Valparaiso.

And despite the name, the Wadsworths have not only been beehavin’, but working like straight-A students to get the new meadery in order, in terms of both logistics (permitting) and rolling out the barrels and giant fermenting vessels.

But the result, Clint Wadsworth said, is an experience he calls “superior” to what came before.

After all, they have their own parking lot now.

You can tell the difference almost immediately upon walking in.

Misbeehavin' Meads has opened their new taproom in Michigan City with bold, fruity concoctions like "Glazed Pineapple" and "Takes Two to Mango."    Aaron Dorman

The yellow awning over the bar — a custom peacock blue finish — and wavy mural give off a kind of beachside vibe even indoors. The open sales counter sits in a game room where visitors can play pinball.

The Wadsworths’ prized Far Out pinball machine was never plugged in at the Valpo location, and still doesn’t quite work, but it’s partly about the vibes.

“The ambience here is more deliberate,” Clint Wadsworth said. “The bar is more functional. We have a bigger space. Superior plumbing, too. It’s the way we want it.”

Smashin’ Berries

The first mead The Times tried was Misbeehavin’s Michigan City debut offering, "Creep in the Cellar," a very tart semi-sweet variety blended with cranberries, oranges and apples.

Not long after, the Wadsworths showed The Times their enormous fruit press, which Clint Wadsworth described as being powered by a “whoopy cushion”: a large pouch that inflates with water and is used to squash the fruit — typically grapes or strawberries — into a fruity mash they can catch in five-gallon buckets. The machine can press out 800 pounds of fruit in one go.

“We try to hit these meads really hard with the fruits typically,” he said.

Between their meads and ciders, the Wadsworths have created some intensely fruity blends that utilize a variety of techniques to bring out full-bodied flavour, whether it’s berry flavour, citrus or something funkier like peanuts, bubble gum or glazed pineapple.

Misbeehavin' Meads has opened their new taproom in Michigan City with bold, fruity concoctions like "Glazed Pineapple" and "Takes Two to Mango."    Aaron Dorman

“You go to a brewery or winery,” Clint Wadsworth said, “and get a description in your menu that it has notes of watermelon, lychee, whatever, and it will just taste like beer. We’ve had blueberry meads that were clear. How does that work? Are you using blueberries in this or not?”

The fruit blending processes — fermenting with juice, or "secret" methods — they used in their meads carry over to the ciders, which Clint Wadsworth said makes their varieties more unique.

The Wadsworths have been experimenting with their brews for a long time, even winning some festival medals along the way, such as “Two Tickets to Pearadise,” a pear cider that was aged in pear brandy barrels imported from France.

Clint Wadsworth didn’t start with meads. Initially he was getting into craft beer, but his father-in-law was keeping bees, and so Clint Wadsworth tried to make use of their honey.

Misbeehavin' Meads has opened their new taproom in Michigan City with bold, fruity concoctions like "Glazed Pineapple" and "Takes Two to Mango."    Aaron Dorman

“I know about mead, had tried a lot of mead,” he said. “So I started making mead. The first batch was horrible. It tasted like vinyl flooring. But that got me going, 'I am not going to be defeated by this.'"

After pressure from friends and family to go into business, the Wadsworths opened the Valpo taproom in 2016.

Jill Wadsworth said her inspiration comes from more traditional sources: cookbooks, video, other media. Clint Wadsworth, however, said he often gets “obsessive” and “possessed” over a particular ingredient.

That has led to some truly wild creations like their oyster (!) mead, “Oh Mead So Horny!”, which was blended with a bunch of aphrodisiacs (in addition to oysters, that batch got honey and champagne grapes).

There’s a lot of Misbeehavin’ that goes into producing a batch like that (before and after?), but if the mead-making process is a fun pastime for the Wadsworths, it’s also a necessity to produce novel varieties in a business landscape that demands constant rebranding.

“A lot of craft brewing places were started by hobbyists who don’t know how to run a business,” Clint Wadsworth said. “The pandemic (stimulus) might have floated them a bit. For us it’s all about staying fresh.”

Now, the Wadsworths hope Michigan City comes to see just what that entails (and not just nurses from Franciscan Health around the block).

Misbeehavin' Meads Co-owner Clint Wadsworth poses in the "game room" amidst his honey wines and pinball machines.    Aaron Dorman

“There’s a lot that can separate a good mead from a bad or generic one,” Clint Wadsworth said. “The creativity behind the ideas. Is it interesting? And does it taste good? Those things have to come together. But I’m excited about people re-exploring our mead.”

Misbeehavin' Meads is located at 10422 W. 400 N., Michigan City. For more information, readers can go to www.misbeehavinmeads.com/.

https://nwitimes.com/life-entertainment/local/food-drink/article_32c182f9-cba9-4da3-b261-8063ef9dee0e.html

Arizona is bursting with delectable modern meaderies, here are 3 of the best

From msn.com/en-us

Drinking wine or beer is fine and dandy but here's a little secret: mead is all the rage. If you're unfamiliar with this alcoholic beverage, said to be the oldest of its kind, here's what you need to know. Mead is gluten free and is made with three simple ingredients including water and yeast. The key, however, is honey, which is ultimately responsible for the libation's flavour profile. That said, meaderies are popping up all across the country including in Arizona. This is no coincidence. 

The Grand Canyon State is abundant in wildflowers that, with the help of bees, produce the sweet stuff. As mead maker Carvin Wilson explained to Wine Enthusiast, "Where honey comes from is the terroir of mead, and there's nothing quite like desert wildflower honey in Arizona." Simply put, indulging in a glass of mead the next time you're in town is a must. Arizona's meaderies brew distinct varieties and flavours. From sparkling to fruity and chocolatey, there's mead for all tastes and preferences. 

Nevertheless, this is not the only feature that makes Arizona's meaderies worth visiting. Oftentimes the meaderies provide a dreamy atmosphere, only adding to the experience. Are you in? Through research and reviews, Islands has narrowed down the four best modern meaderies in Arizona, where you can sit back, relax, and enjoy your nectar of the gods. 

Tap into your inner Viking at Drinking Horn Meadery in Flagstaff

©@rob422m/Instagram

The historical rumors are true; Vikings did, in fact, love mead. On that note, you can imbibe in a Norse-themed setting at Drinking Horn Meadery's Mead Hall. This one-of-a-kind establishment is located in Flagstaff, about two hours away from Phoenix, on the iconic Route 66. Drinking Horn Meadery presents seasonal creations such as prickly pear, acai, and coffee mead, among many others. If you can't decide, choose a mead flight. And as its name suggests, drinking horns are available for purchase, allowing visitors to truly immerse themselves in the environment.

But what's a good drink without an equally amazing meal? Although Drinking Horn Meadery does not have a food menu, their website states that nearby eateries, like Lumberjack Pizza and Pato Thai Cuisine offer delivery and can be enjoyed onsite. With plenty of tables and seating available, this place is ideal for groups who want to drink, eat, and be merry. Likewise, there are weekly events to partake in while drinking your mead, including trivia nights. 

Drinking Horn Meadery has a near perfect rating on Tripadvisor, Yelp, and Google. "Excellent selection of locally fermented mead from local and raw honey in Flagstaff!," states a Tripadvisor review. "Travel back to the past in this meadery! They really go all out in creating what I think is Viking vibe, sans the lighting," reads a Yelp review. At the time of this writing, Drinking Horn Meadery is open daily at 11:00 a.m. 

Drink mead with a view at The Meading Room in Sonoita

©@natureloverinaz/Instagram

Sonoita in Southern Arizona is about an hour away from Tucson, a UNESCO city of culinary excellence. Well-known for its wineries, this rural community became home to The Meading Room in 2019. Uniquely, this small business is run by a mother and daughter, Barbara Christianson and Kylie Daniels. Visitors to The Meading Room can expect classic and sparkling mead, as well as cider. Revered on Untappd are Space Cowboy, featuring raspberry blossom honey, and Old No. 9, made with hatch green chiles. 

In an interview with Visit the Sky Islands of Arizona, Daniels stated, "It took so much work but it's so important to us to use only fresh, natural ingredients." However, the quality of the mead is only one part of the equation. Top-rated on Yelp and Google, users on both platforms commend The Meading Room's bucolic scenery. "They have events throughout the year, but it's also a perfect way to spend a quiet Saturday sipping mead and looking out at the hills (and sometimes horses and cows across the road)," wrote an individual on Google. 

The Meading Room hosts markets, dance parties, and more, so be sure to check out their events page on their website before your visit. If you prefer to drink your mead indoors, Yelp reviewers say that there is plenty to keep guests occupied including games. At the time of this writing The Meading Room is open daily at 11:00 a.m.

Superstition Meadery in Prescott is the OG of Arizona meaderies

©@cgrimes87/Instagram

Formerly a mining town, Prescott is a mountainous Arizona gem surrounded by national history. Given its past, it might not be surprising to learn that this destination once was inundated with saloons. Indeed, the Gold Rush spirit is still alive at Prescott's Whiskey Row. In modern times, the city has become closely associated with mead thanks to Superstition Meadery. This watering hole was founded in 2012 and is said to be the first meadery in the state, undoubtedly contributing to this age-old beverage's popularity. 

Visitors who enter the award-winning Superstition Meadery will discover a sophisticated space with rustic allure where they can savour eclectic mead flavours. Popular on Untappd are Peanut Butter Jelly Crime and Straw Berry White, featuring vanilla and white chocolate. Superstition Meadery, which also produces cider, offers flights, as well as one ounce tasting cups (perfect for those who want to try more than one mead). In addition, visitors can pair their drinks with delicious tapas.

On the menu is baked brie with sourdough bread, spinach artichoke dip, and charcuterie, among other things. Unsurprisingly, Superstition Meadery is beloved on Tripadvisor and Yelp, where reviewers applaud the service and setting. "Dozens of meads of all varieties and a knowledgeable staff to explain all the differences between them," states a Tripadvisor review. On Yelp, a reviewer summarized it perfectly, "Superstition makes some great stuff." Open daily, Superstition Meadery is located in the basement of Prescott's Burmister Building. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/arizona-is-bursting-with-delectable-modern-meaderies-here-are-4-of-the-best/ss-AA25zh1F#image=1

Virginia, USA: Best breweries located inside a meadery

From styleweekly.com

SetBreak Brewing Company (1313 Altamont Ave.) and Funktastic Beer (1212 Alverser Plaza) 

When a business already has the local market pretty much cornered with its product, as Funktastic Meads and Black Heath Meadery do, it takes a special brand of confidence to add beer to the menu. But that’s what they did. And so far, their decision appears to be paying off.

SetBreak Brewing owners Rob Quicke (left) and Bill Cavender, who also owns Black Heath Meadery. Photo by Scott Elmquist

Funktastic Beer celebrated its two-year anniversary in April, and Black Heath’s SetBreak Brewing Company opened in February. Both fit nicely into the Richmond beer spectrum: SetBreak seems to favor light, refreshing beers and solid IPAs, while Funktastic often leans toward highly experimental stouts. SetBreak gets its name from a band’s pause between sets, as Black Heath Meadery owner Bill Cavender and head brewer Rob Quicke are huge music lovers.

“It feels like we are past the tuning and into full-on practices now,” Cavender says in an email, continuing the metaphor. “We’ve pushed a couple ‘tunes’ out, but we’re not really comfortable enough for any tasty jams and improv yet.” He adds that the approach has exposed strictly mead drinkers to beer, and vice versa, offering more variety. “We are working on the true mashups, the braggots,” he says. “A beer-mead hybrid that we couldn’t make with a wine license. Coming this summer!”

                                                                Exterior of Black Heath Meadery in Scott’s Addition

Matt Carroll is the owner and head brewer of Funktastic Meads. Before he became known as the guy who makes off-the-wall meads, he was the home brewer who made off-the-wall adjunct beers with friends. For him, the boomerang back to beer was a logical step.

Besides crafting pastry stouts that give The Answer and The Veil runs for their money, Carroll’s anniversary beer – a double IPA collaboration with a brewery in Zimbabwe, where he took a family trip – illustrates his willingness to experiment. After trying a popular orange concentrate there called mazoe, he thought it would work great in a beer. Clearly, he was right: it was the third-highest rated beer on Untappd in the country when it came out in early April.

                                                                                                    Funktastic Meads interior

“Our focus is still mead,” Carroll says. “But beer is something that people know… It’s a small portion of our business, but it works well. It brings people in.”

https://www.styleweekly.com/best-breweries-located-inside-a-meadery/

Massachusetts: Zydeco Meadery Honors Juneteenth Traditions with Hibiscus Mead Rooted in Red-Drink History

From blackprwire.com

Many American holidays are closely tied to celebratory foods and drinks such as turkey at Thanksgiving, pumpkins at Halloween, and eggs at Easter. Juneteenth, the nation’s newest federal holiday, carries its own deeply rooted food and beverage traditions, particularly the sharing of red-coloured drinks that symbolize resilience, remembrance, and freedom.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when General Order No. 3 announced the emancipation of enslaved people in Texas, nearly two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. At the time, enslaved laborers made up roughly 30 percent of Texas’s population. Many had been forcibly relocated from other Southern states, while others were illegally trafficked through Havana from West Africa and West Central Africa during the final decades of slavery.

These communities carried with them culinary memories and ritual practices shaped by African traditions. In many West African cultures, red foods and beverages were shared during important celebrations as offerings to ancestors and as symbols of spiritual continuity. Tart, cranberry-like drinks made from fresh and dried hibiscus calyces (roselle) and beverages derived from kola nut were common in celebratory contexts long before emancipation.

In Texas, newly freed families adapted these traditions using available ingredients, giving rise to red lemonade, strawberry drinks, and watermelon beverages that became synonymous with Juneteenth gatherings. Over time, these red drinks evolved into enduring symbols of joy, remembrance, and communal celebration.

Zydeco Meadery’s hibiscus mead is called Carnival Rose and draws inspiration from this diasporic history. Carnival Rose is crafted from a Trinidadian recipe using with dried hibiscus flowers and Louisiana wildflower honey.  It reflects a centuries-old tradition of red celebratory drinks while reimagining them through the lens of modern, small-batch fermentation. The result is a vibrant mead that honours the past while offering a contemporary way to toast freedom.

As communities across the country gather to mark Juneteenth, Zydeco Meadery invites families and friends to reflect on the holiday’s history, share a meal, and raise a glass of hibiscus mead in recognition of emancipation, endurance, and the sweetness of freedom. 

About Zydeco Meadery

Zydeco Meadery is a family-run meadery based in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, producing small-batch meads inspired by African American, Caribbean, and Creole foodways using local honey and thoughtfully sourced ingredients.

https://www.blackprwire.com/press-releases/zydeco-meadery-honors-juneteenth-traditions-with-hibiscus-mead-rooted-in-red-drink-history 

Alberta, Canada: Why You Need Mead

From edifyedmonton.com

Your next big pour is 7,000 years old. But a local meadery is bringing a modern twist to the ancient sip

We’re familiar with fermented grapes in wine, but what about fermented honey? Few people realize that this drink exists, let alone that our province thrives in its production of high-quality honey.

Mead, known in ancient times as golden nectar, was a drink deemed worthy of gods and kings. Interesting fact: this drink predates beer and wine. Pottery containers dating to 7000 B.C.E in China show evidence of the fermentation of honey-based alcoholic beverages, a similar process to what we use now.

Fermentation is nature’s culinary wizardry, a perfect combination of science and art. The technicalities behind it are not lost on Curtis Foreman, who studied molecular biology. It was that and his father’s winemaking background that inspired him to own a meadery.

The Grey Owl Meadery was established in 2015 by the Schwengler family before Foreman and his family took over in 2023. The business remains a family affair through and through.

                                                                                                        courtesy Grey Owl Meadery

Even though mead was once held in high regard, its production declined in the 1600s as honey became more expensive to make. But within the past decade, it has made a comeback (we can probably thank Game of Thrones for that). And meaderies like Foreman’s are helping bring it to everyone’s table. “I want people to know that this drink is not just for the shelf,” Foreman says.

Though it’s crafted from honey, do not assume this drink is strictly for those with a sweet tooth. There is a mead for every palate, and Foreman cannot reiterate this enough.

Grey Owl has experimented with modern recipes, offering sparkling, cysers (a combination of mead and apple cider) and fortified meads. But the meadery’s still wines are the most popular, especially the Cranberry Orange — a cranberry, clover and wildflower honey mix, infused with Turkish oranges. If you are not sure what flavour is right for you, visit the meadery near Buck Lake, about two hours’ drive southwest of Edmonton, for a free tasting.

From taking in the view of the foothills and mountains to savouring the substantial charcuterie board, Grey Owl’s Tasting Room offers more than drinks. “We want the atmosphere to feel like a nice winery in Tuscany,” Foreman says. If mead is not your thing, bring someone who would partake in every sip and you can relax with a gourmet coffee — the scenery itself will make the experience worth it.

                                                                           courtesy Grey Owl Meadery

Grey Owl mead is also available at liquor stores across Alberta.

Grey Owl Meadery
452036 Hwy 22, Alder Flats, AB | 403.890.9834 | greyowlmeadery.com

https://edifyedmonton.com/food/drinks/why-you-need-mead/