Mead, wonderful wonderful Mead!

We are making hard Cider but we are also making mead (fermented Honey and Water). It is enjoying a revival. From the Vermont Telegram and Gazette:

Region to get chance to quaff its own mead
Medieval nectar at health food store near you

If mead, that ancient alcoholic beverage made from honey, conjures up images of lords and ladies and medieval banquets where you toss your turkey leg bones on the floor, Jake Feldman wants to change that.

It�s time for the drink known as the nectar of the gods to snap out of the Renaissance and come into the 21st century, he said. Meadmaster Feldman, who works for Honey Gardens Apiaries, is just days away from embarking on a mission to raise the profile and change the image of mead. Honey Gardens is releasing Feldman�s first batch of Melissa Sparkling Mead to a small group of natural foods stores and one downtown Burlington restaurant.

�I have to not only sell it; I have to educate people about what it is and why it�s a good thing to drink,� Feldman said.

Getting the word out about mead and dispelling myths is key, said David Myers, owner of Redstone Meadery, whose job title is chairman of the mead at the Boulder, Colo., meadery. Redstone is the largest craft meadery in the country, he said.

�Most people think of mead as a very singular beverage. They think of it as a very sweet, heavy dessert wine. Mead can be sparkling or still, sweet or dry,� Myers said.

Honey Gardens joins a tiny, but growing group of United States beverage makers. There are only about 80 or 90 meaderies in the country and another 30 or so wineries where mead is produced, said Myers, who is a founding board member of the International Mead Association. That compares with 1,378 craft breweries making beers and ales nationwide, according to the Brewers Association in Boulder.

The market is growing, however, especially in places such as Colorado and the West Coast. Myers estimates that the number of meaderies nationally has more than doubled in the past five years. Sales at Redstone grew more than 40 percent last year and topped the half-million-dollar mark, he said.

At my Mom's internment, I offered people tastes of our Cider and our Mead. The overall reception was very favorable -- a number of them had never had either and really liked what they tasted.