Think of mead and the mind is cast back in time, to an era when people wore tunics and breeches, raised tankards and horns (or occasionally the skulls of their enemies) and wassailed along to the dulcet tones of minstrels playing lutes. But the time has come to press fast forward to a sweeter future. Mead might be the world’s oldest fermented drink, but this ancient libation is making a thoroughly modern comeback.
Mead has a long and rich history. Traces have been found in pottery vessels from as early as 7000 BC in northern China and mead was even found in the tomb of King Midas. Literature is teeming with mentions of mead and honey wine, from Beowulf and Chaucer, to Neil Gaiman and Harry Potter, and it even has roots in the etymology of the word ‘honeymoon’. Forget Champagne – it was mead that was sunk as the ceremonial toast at weddings in times of yore, and afterwards tradition dictated that newlyweds be given enough mead to last them a whole lunar phase to encourage fertility.
The history of mead-making is linked with the monasteries of Europe. Because ceremonial candles required beeswax, beekeeping was an essential practice and resulted in plenty of surplus honey to turn into booze. Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries in the sixteenth century caused a decline in the custom of mead-making and drinking in Britain. But modern tastes crave excitement. With our new openness to exploring different flavours, there is romance to be found in rediscovering the past. No longer just the preserve of Anglo Saxon lords or medieval re-enactment societies, this heritage drink is gradually making a name for itself as the hot and trendy new (old) kid on the block.