It caught my eye one day while strolling down an aisle at Spec’s,

Mead.

I’ve heard about it throughout my life. One of the oldest beverages. The nectar of the gods. Vikings. Ren Fairs. And so on. But I’ve never tasted or experienced it in any way, other than lore. After seeing it for sale that one day, I figured one of these days I’d have to try it.

Today is that day.

There wasn’t a lot of variety on the shelf. And having no idea what’s what, I picked this one from Redstone Meadery. I picked it because it was “traditional”. The others all appeared to be mead with stuff, like fruits or herbs or whatever. I figure for a first time, I ought to try just “plain old mead”.

The first thing that struck me was reading the label: honey wine. I admit, I had no idea that’s what it was. Sounded interesting.

So I got home, put it into the fridge for a few hours. It was quite helpful that the label explained a few things, like serving temperature. I get the feeling the folks at Redstone know mead is obscure and most people won’t know how to deal with it. So it’s cool they dedicate some label space to the essential questions. A few minutes ago I popped open the bottle and poured some.

The first thing that struck me was, of course, the honey. Wow. The smell is wonderful, if you like honey. That’s what it smells like: a good honey. Then there are other smells, including the “wine/alcohol” that hits you. Not in a bad way, just that it’s not honey. Of course, it’s much less viscous than honey.

The taste?

Honey. Drinkable honey.

It’s actually more complex than that, but of course, that’s the dominant flavor. Even the mouthfeel is honey-like, tho again, not as viscous.

There’s something about it I don’t like. I’m not sure where to place it. It may be the “alcohol-ish overtones” that just don’t jive to my brain: honey isn’t supposed to taste like that! But there’s also something that I really like, because when you bring the glass up to drink and your nose enters the glass and inhales, all that honey smell is wonderful. If I just sit and smell it for a while, it’s really a nice smell; so many subtle overtones. I will say, after having consumed a bit now, I’m starting to feel like I’ve consumed too much sweet stuff. It’s rich. Very vibrant and alive. So while my brain and tastebuds are still figuring things out, the simple fact I keep going back for more tells me there’s certainly something I like and certainly something I wish to continue to explore.

I may end up not liking it. But for now, this is… an adventure. I’ll finish this bottle. Then I’d like to try some of their other “flavored” meads to see what those are like. Then I’d like to try other brands. Might even try it really cold, and maybe even warm it a bit. I figure after once I explore it enough, I’ll know if I really like it or not. But I do like it enough to want to finish this bottle, continue to make sense of the flavors and smells and overall experience, and then go back for more.

One thing that perked my interest. I’ve always thought beekeeping would be kinda cool. Wouldn’t it be interesting to have my own bees and make my own mead? Ah, what fun. 🙂

Off to pour another glass.