Mead...what's that?

I get asked that a lot! Mead is actually fermented honey. Most alcohols are made from grains or starches and produce a bitter-tasting drink that needs to be mixed with something or is an "acquired" taste. Mead goes down smooth and sweet. A lot of people don't feel like they're drinking anything more than a cider and are very surprised at just how buzzed they can get.

Mead is found throughout history and mythology-to the Norse, it was the drink of gods and heroes. it inspired song, poetry and storytelling, and was drank at every ritual and ceremony. The Greeks called it ambrosia and believed it conferred immortality. The Hindus referred to it as amrita, which means "she who gives life to the thirsty."

Odin, chief god of the Nordic peoples
often carried a spear named Gungir,
which was said to never miss its mark.
He almost never misses with the maidens, either,
with the exception of the daughter of a man named Billingsr.
Time and again she eluded his amorous advances.
Perhaps he could have used a bottle of Gungirl Mead,
with a taste that’s as sweet, mysterious and elusive as a fair maiden.
Brewed in a town called Billings, Gungirl is “more exotic than beer and sweeter than liquor.”
The ancient Northern Europeans were well aware of mead’s aphrodisiac qualities,
which is why they sent newlyweds out with month’s supply of it.
The fermented honey made hearts grow closer and inhibitions come down.
Said couples were expected to be gone for a “moon,” and thus, their vacation
came to be known as a “honeymoon.”
You can still taste what made mead the ancients’ drink of choice,
and feel that heady rush that’s a bit like falling in love.