Honeymoon

It is popular lore that the words ‘honeymoon’ and ‘mead’ are related. How? Well, read on…

According to some, back in the time of Babylon, it is said that in order to increase the firility and fertility of the newly-weds, the father of the bride would provide his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink during the first month of the marriage (See honeymoon on Wikipedia).

Mead was included in my own wedding celebration. We had mead at every table and we toasted with it in lieu of champagne. I was accused of consuming too much of the wonderful drink but, hey, I don’t remember it that way. Not everyone remembered it as fondly as I do… I recall our photographer in particular. He took to telling a story to anyone who would listen about how the wine was “so bad that when he spilled his glass it killed the grass”. Picky, picky!

Not everyone appreciates a strong sweet mead, but hey, that’s the beauty of mead. It can be made in so many different ways! You like dry? No problem. Bubbles? Sure, there’s sparking mead. Something not so strong? Yep, there’s a mead for you that is closer to ale than wine. Want something that is strong and sweet? Try a sack mead. And then there are the fruit combinations, the herbs and spices, and even something called a “Rhodomel” which is basically a mead brewed with rose petals. If you can decide what you like in wine, there is probably a mead just for you.

Stay tuned for more on mead…