The lineup of meads tasted recently at the University of California, Davis.
Aside from tankards raised riotously at Renaissance Faires, mead plays virtually no role on the American beverage scene.
This is odd, given mead’s long history, its variety and versatility, its close and natural association with the charming industry and perseverance of bees, and even its tie to Renaissance Faires, which with their lusty embrace of all things historic, romantic and colorful should be propelling mead to new heights of popularity.
The knock on mead, however, is that it also is known as “honey wine,” and thus seen as invariably sweet, a curious downer for a populace with such a ravenous sweet tooth that only a dentist can fill it. Besides, mead isn’t always sweet, and much of it made today isn’t sweet at all, or maybe no sweeter than your typical Chardonnay. What’s more, some meads show virtually no trace of the aroma and flavor of honey.
Mead should be having a moment, given the wild range of beverages catching the fancy of American consumers these days. Walk through the beverage sections of most any grocery store and brace yourself for an onslaught of wacky options – vodka infused with kale and cucumber, sparkling tea flavored with schisandra berries, sparkling water with yuzu and ginger, kombucha with lavender and jasmine, “milkshake” IPAs, coconut water.
Ask where the mead is stocked amid all this excitement and expect to be directed to a small display at the bottom of a tiny rack in a dark corner.
Amina Harris, retiring director of the Honey & Pollination Center at the University of California, Davis.
But in the world of mead, hope springs eternal. Occasionally, for one, Amina Harris, director of the Honey & Pollination Center at the University of California, Davis, since its inception 11 years ago, convenes a symposium to help mead makers raise production standards, refine their marketing and address other issues holding back wider acceptance of mead.
Over four days earlier this month, Harris, who is retiring, presided at her final such gathering. Mead makers from throughout the country weighed in on such topics as selecting the best honey for their style, selecting the best yeast for fermentation, and selecting the best glassware in which to pour their meads.
I was invited to join the concluding panel, made up of wine, beer and mead writers. Five meads were tasted. Together, they showed just how stylistically broad the mead culture is. Individually, each stood apart for character and for what it said of the diversity of the world of mead:
McGee’s Mead Co. Earl Grey Kumquats Mead (around $24): Based on California wildflower honey, infused with kumquats and orange zest, and aged with Earl Grey tea, the McGee’s put me in mind of a barn’s open hay mow, with newly baled hay being lifted and dropped into place alongside drier bales that had been stacked long before. That’s a positive image, provoked by the mead’s floral aroma, herbaceousness and, yes, insinuations of a freshly steeped cup of Earl Grey. The McGee’s was lightly sweet, with an appealing tartness in the finish. When would you drink it, other than on its own? Culinary suggestions were all over the place, with panelists and members of the audience, who also were tasting the meads, suggesting such dishes as caprese salad, pasta with asparagus, a spinach salad, even shortbread cookies. Among meads, the McGee’s was named best-of-class at last year’s Santa Rosa Press Democrat North Coast Wine Challenge. It also was a semi-finalist for one of the top three awards at this year’s U.S. Mead Open. McGee’s Mead Co. is at St. Helena in Napa Valley.
Hierophant Meadery Hopped Mead ($27): The world of mead is divided into numerous sub-groups, such as cyser (a mead that includes apples) and melomel (a mead made with assorted fruits or vegetables other than grapes). The Hierophant belongs to the sub-group metheglin, meaning it’s a mead that includes herbs or spices, in this case Mosaic hops, a kind of hops recognized for its floral, citric and piney contributions to beer, or in this instance, mead. Brilliantly colored and pleasantly off-dry, the Hierophant was exceptionally vibrant and complex, tasting mostly of a thin drizzle of honey over a generous bowl of assorted tropical fruits. The hops seemed to bring a woodsy, resinous note to the mead that fit in quite snugly and appropriately for the mead’s buoyant fruitiness. The Hierophant website suggests it be substituted for beer, especially when pizza, pasta with either a red or pesto sauce, or pretzels with a cheese sauce are also on the table. It also would work with pho generous with lime and basil leaves. Participants at the tasting suggested it be served chilled as an aperitif, or as a companion to a lighter cheese or a salad of pear, arugula and Gorgonzola. Hierophant Meadery is at Freeland, Washington.
Schramm’s Mead A Smile of Fortune ($48): The boldest mead of the day, A Smile of Fortune is a densely colored, concentrated and heavy yet sunny mélange of dark fruits: Black currants, Polish Lutowka cherries, “heritage” red raspberries and Oregon boysenberries. All of them are in this hefty and vigorous mead, more akin to a late-harvest Zinfandel than a popularly perceived mead. Despite its weight and power, A Smile of Fortune has vibrant acidity. Recommended accompaniments included chocolate cake, foie gras, kettle korn, fresh young cheeses and Led Zeppelin’s take of “When the Levee Breaks.” Ken Schramm, the owner of Schramm’s Mead in Ferndale, Michigan, is the author of “The Compleat Meadmaker,” the country’s best-selling book on making mead.
Moonlight Meadery Desire ($19): Mahogany-toned, viscous, sweet and spicy, the Desire evoked a vision of a pipe-smoking customer strolling about a furniture showroom stocked with a new line of expensive furnishings, it was that perfumey and gleaming. In addition to its fruit, it carried suggestions of Sherry, mushrooms and caramel, prompting some discussion that this sample might not have been showing as fresh as it usually does. With the requisite honey, it is packed with nearly as many fruits as A Smile of Fortune – blueberries, black cherries and black currants. The flagship mead of Moonlight Meadery in Londonderry, New Hampshire, it won best of show out of 353 entries in the 2018 San Diego International Beer Competition. The Moonlight website suggests it be paired with cheeses, Italian dishes, rich saucy meat dishes and Belgian chocolates.
Lost Cause Meadery Amaro Curioso ($30): Amaro is a fashionable and potent Italian-inspired liqueur customarily made of grape brandy infused with assorted flowers, spices, herbs and barks. It commonly is consumed on its own or as an aperitif or digestif, or used as a component of cocktails. Lost Cause’s Amaro Curioso brings a twist to the genre by being based on orange-blossom honey and Riesling grapes subsequently dry-hopped and infused with an exceptionally long list of herbs, spices and the like, including orange peel, lemon zest, lemongrass, cardamom, elderflower and rhubarb root. The upshot is a forthrightly aromatic, fruity and spicy Amaro, its flavor embracing several members of the citrus family, and its sweetness more refreshing than sticky, with just an edge of appropriate bitterness. Its heat is bracing but not harsh. Chill it a bit or serve over ice to savor on its own, or play with it during the cocktail hour. Lost Cause Meadery is in San Diego.
I don’t know the availability of these meads in Sacramento, but they are online. Locally, Corti Brothers and the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op stock meads.
Mike’s mead notes