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So what is Mead?

Mead, Metheglin or Melomel?

At it's core, Mead is simply fermented honey and water.  

 

But once you start adding things to it (fruits, herbs, spices), it gets a new name... and things can get a bit complicated!

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To try and simplify it, a Mead becomes a Metheglin if you add herbs and or spices and a Melomel if you add fruit… then there are sub-types depending on the fruit.  At this point, you may want to pour yourself a glass and settle down for a read (I had several whilst typing this).

Cachaca Collection
herbs and spices

Mead Types

  • Bochet – made with caramelised honey before fermentation

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  • Great Mead – aged mead (if you can resist drinking it!)

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  • Hydromel – a lighter, lower-alcohol mead (also the French word for mead)

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  • Melomel - with fruit

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  • Metheglin - with spices

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  • Sack Mead – made with extra honey, typically 14% ABV or higher

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  • Show/Traditional Mead – honey and water, the classic

 

Types of Melomel

  • Black Mead – made with blackcurrants

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  • Cyser – made with apples or apple juice

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  • Morat – made with mulberries

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  • Omphacomel – made with verjuice (sour juice from unripe fruit)

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  • Pyment – made with grapes or grape juice

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  • Hippocras – made with grapes and spices

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  • Rhodomel – made with rose hips or petals

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  • Rudamel – made with raspberries

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Colorful Fruits
Vintage Jar Collection

Other Curious Types

  • Acerglyn – made with maple syrup

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  • Braggot – made with hops (in these modern times, some use malted grain)

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  • Capsicumel – made with chilli

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  • Oxymel – made with wine vinegar

So what do we make at Saxnōt Meadery?

We make a classic Traditional Mead .

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Our Summer Fruit Cyser is a modern twist on cyser, using summer fruit juice instead of apple juice.

 

Our Fægerdrōm & Géola are spiced meads, so technically Metheglins… but they also contain sultanas, which makes them Melomels too!

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Due to the additional honey content and higher ABV, our Géola, along with our Kaos, can be classed as Sack Meads.

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Our FyrMel is a Capsicumel,  made with Aji Limon chilli.

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And as for Great Mead… we’ve always wanted to make one.  But you lot keep buying it before it gets a chance to age!  So we’ve hidden away a few bottles. Shhh…

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As you can see, it gets a bit complicated. That’s why we tend to just call it “mead” and let the flavours speak for themselves.

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If you’re keen to dive deeper into the world of mead types, we highly recommend Robert Ratliff’s Big Book of Mead Recipes. He even mentions a Weirdomel—a mead that doesn’t fit into any category and uses unusual or experimental ingredients - our never to be repeated 2023 Christmas Special Spout Mead probably falls into this category!  

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