Miss D. and I are fond of the occasional glass of mead. Before our marriage she lived close to, and volunteered occasionally to help with bottling at, Celestial Meads in Anchorage, Alaska. She took me there a few times, and introduced me to some of her favorite flavors. Since then we've made several visits to New Day Craft in Indianapolis, Indiana, during visits to that city, and come to appreciate some of their meads.
Therefore, at Blogorado last weekend I was intrigued to find one of the attendees drinking a bottle of Viking Blod, a mead from Dansk Mjod in Denmark.
I sampled it, and was instantly impressed. The meadery describes it as follows:
In order to establish this mead we have combined the traditional brew with various spices and dried hibiscus. In addition to the color adds this mead aromatic and floral aftertaste, like a good madeira.
Contents: Honey added hops, hibiscus, water and spices - 19% alc.
That's a pretty strong mead! A quick Internet search found a number of reviews. For example, the South Texas Beer Blog had this to say about it:
It pours a nice deep golden honey color which is completely still. The nose has a bit of alcohol and spice but dominates with a nice honey aroma. The taste has a bit of a burn from the 19% ABV but has some pretty nice sweetness, a bit of flowery spice (i.e. hibuscus and hops) and warms the belly quite nicely! It sticks to the glass like a nice thick wine and the honey flavor lingers for quite a long time in your mouth.
There's more at the link.
This stuff may appear expensive, but if you price a premium mead from either of the meaderies I mentioned above, it's not far off. Any difference would probably be due to transport costs from Denmark and import duties. If you like mead, this one and the others produced by Dansk Mjod are worth a try. I'll be looking for them in stores specializing in imported liquors. (No, they're not compensating me in any way for this article; they don't even know I exist! I just like their mead - or, at least, the one variety I've sampled so far.)
Peter
Must be a fortified wine if it's 19% alcohol - like port or sherry. Fermentation will only take it to 12-13% before the alcohol stops the fermentation. Above that grain alcohol has been added.
ReplyDeleteJim - this is mead, not wine or beer. It's amazing what honey can turn into.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoy a glass of mead upon occasion. It's generally too thick and sweet for general consumption. An exception that I've found is a new meadery that's only a half hour from home. They do old-world Polish style meads, which are generally fairly thin and dry.
They are also experimenting with flavorings. The jalapeno mead is absolutely wonderful - enough pepper for the flavor, with just a hint of burn that is quickly extinguished by the honey.
Unfortunately, they don't ship to your part of the country, Peter. :(
McChuck, someone might be inclined to ship a sample (or two) to someone who is outside the zone...as a friendly gesture. I'm sure a amicable agreement could be reach, especially between fellow mead lovers.
ReplyDeleteOrchid Cellar Meadery & Winery, Middletown, MD.
ReplyDeleteCheck out their selection.
I'm at: mcchuck524@gmail.com
While I'm at it - we also have Distillery Lane Ciderworks.
ReplyDeleteTraditional ciders - they actually use Thomas Jefferson's personal recipe for one of them.
JoeBob sez, check it out.