Norwegian Cuisine Codexery

Mead

An ancient fermented honey drink with global resurgence.

Mead, also called honey wine or hydromel, is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, sometimes with added fruits, spices, grains, or hops.[1] Mead's alcohol by volume can be as low as roughly 3.5% and as high as over 20%.[1] The key feature of mead is that honey supplies the majority of its fermentable sugar.[2]

Quick Facts

Proof
7°–41°
Ingredients
  • honey
  • water
  • fruit
  • herbs
  • spices
Flavour
dry, sweet or semi-sweet
Variants
  • metheglyn
  • chouchen
  • bochet
Related
  • tej
  • midus
  • medovukha
  • bais
  • balché

Facts from the source article.

Key facts and history

Mead is possibly the most ancient alcoholic drink, with a 9000-year-old Chinese burial chamber containing traces of a mead-like substance.[3] The earliest surviving written record of mead is possibly the soma mentioned in the hymns of the Rigveda, dated around 1700–1100 BCE.[4] The Hispanic-Roman naturalist Lucius Columella gave a recipe for mead in De re rustica, about 60 CE.[5] Mead was increasingly displaced by other alcoholic beverages whose fermentable sugars were less expensive and more readily available.[6]

In his Meteorologica, Aristotle wrote about mead produced in Illiria, and Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia uses the term melitites for a wine made from grapes and honey.[4] Europe, Africa, and Asia all saw mead production in ancient times, and it held a significant place in the mythologies of certain cultures.[7] Tech Mid Chuarda, meaning "house of the circling of mead," was the name of a banquet hall situated on the Hill of Tara.[8] A worldwide revival in mead production has been occurring since the start of the 21st century.[9]

MeadWorld's data indicates that by 2025, the global count of commercial mead producers was at least 850.[9]

What the cited sources add

A 2011 Sydney Morning Herald article notes that traditional mead is made with three ingredients: honey, water, and yeast.[3] The same article quotes Vicky Rowe of Gotmead.com stating that mead can be as dry as a bone or very sweet, just like wine.[3] A 2022 SCMP article states that mead had its origins in China 9,000 years ago and was popular with everyone from the Vikings to the ancient Greeks.[10] The SCMP piece points out that within Hong Kong, mead stands out as one of the few alcoholic beverages producible with locally sourced ingredients.[10]

A 2024 When In Manila article states that the Philippines observed its inaugural International Mead Day on 3 August 2024, an event spearheaded by La Mesa Mead.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Mead" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Mead dictionary definition | mead defined", www.yourdictionary.com; Fitch, "The Rites of Odin", Llewellyn Worldwide, 1990, p. 290; Molokhovets, "Classic Russian Cooking: Elena Molokhovets' A Gift to Young Housewives", The Foreign Quarterly Review, 1998, p. 474; Lichine, "Alexis Lichine's new encyclopedia of wines & spirits", Knopf, 1987 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Mead" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gayre, "Brewing Mead", Brewers Publications, 1986, p. 158; Rose, "Alcoholic Beverages", Academic Press, 1977, p. 413; Fitzsimons, "Medieval No More: Mead Enjoys A Renaissance", NPR, 1 May 2011; "Mead leaves the dark ages behind", The Sydney Morning Herald, 3 January 2011 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. "Mead leaves the dark ages behind", The Sydney Morning Herald, 3 January 2011. facts only, no text reused. smh.com.au
  4. Wikipedia, "Mead" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Rigveda"; Kublickas, "Traditional Foods: General and Consumer Aspects", Springer US, 2016, p. 339–343; "Indo-European languages, Indo-European studies", Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online; Pratt, "Insights into Modern Hinduism. Hervey de Witt GriswoldĀdarsha Sādhu: An Ideal Monk. A. J. Sunavala", The Journal of Religion, July 1935, p. 358; Wilkes 1996, p. 98; Alcock, "Food in the ancient world", Greenwood Press, 2006; Kerenyi, "Dionysus: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life", Princeton University Press, 1976, p. 35 (original not read en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Mead" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pliny the Elder, "Natural History XIV", p. XII:85 etc. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Mead" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Buhner, "Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation", Siris Books, 1998 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Mead" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Toussaint-Samat, "A history of food", Wiley-Blackwell, 2009; Hornsey, "A History of Beer and Brewing", Royal Society of Chemistry, 2003, p. 7; "The Funerary Feast of King Midas @ the Penn Museum | Remains of a Feast"; Lévi-Strauss, "From honey to ashes", University of Chicago Press, 1983 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Mead" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Slainte! The Celtic Wassail – The Histories and Folklore of Mead and Honey in Celtic Lands", Owlcation, 20 January 2024; Foley, "The Best Irish Drinks: The Essential Collection of Cocktail Recipes and Toasts from the Emerald Isle", Sourcebooks, Inc., 1 January 2006 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Mead" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "World Mead Database", MeadWorld (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. "Why is mead making a comeback? The craft brewers in Hong Kong reviving ancient alcoholic beverage for the modern drinker", SCMP, 4 June 2026. facts only, no text reused. scmp.com
  11. "First-Ever International Mead Day Celebration in the Philippines Takes Place This August", When In Manila, 31 July 2024. facts only, no text reused. wheninmanila.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Mead (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

More in Norwegian cuisine

Norwegian cuisineBoknafiskBrown sauce (meat stock based)BrunostCuisine of SvalbardDried and salted codEdam cheeseFenalårFilmjölkFreia MelkesjokoladeGrandiosaJulebord

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →