Ever wondered what drink fortified the Vikings on their ocean voyages or what Aristotle sipped from his goblet? The answer is mead, a drink made possible by the humble honeybee. Mead, one of the oldest alcoholic beverages in the world, has been enjoyed across centuries by everyone from pirates to royalty. Though its popularity waned for a time, mead is now experiencing a modern resurgence.
1. Mead Exists in Its Own Category
Often called honey wine, mead is not technically a wine. It is made from honey, water, and yeast, not fruit, placing it in its own unique category of alcoholic beverages. Even fruit-flavored meads are not considered wines.
2. It is Likely the Oldest Alcoholic Beverage on Earth
Evidence of mead fermentation dates back to 7000 B.C.E. in ancient Chinese pottery, predating both wine and beer. The first mead may have been a happy accident when early foragers drank rainwater mixed with fermented honey. Mead’s appeal spread globally, becoming popular with Vikings, Mayans, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans.
3. The Golden Elixir Was Considered the Drink of the Gods
Known as the “nectar of the gods,” mead was highly revered in ancient Greece. It was believed to be a divine gift from the heavens, collected by bees and thought to grant immortality and other mystical powers. Because of this, mead played a significant role in various ceremonies and rituals, even as its drinking popularity declined.
4. Mead as Medicine
While doctors today do not prescribe mead, it was once used as a remedy for various ailments in early England. Herbal or spiced meads, known as metheglin (from the Welsh word for medicine), were thought to aid digestion, ease depression, and cure hypochondria. By infusing herbs into sweet mead, the mixture became more palatable and medicinal.
5. The Flavor of Mead Depends on the Honey
A single honeybee produces just a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey each day, making every drop valuable. Mead’s flavor is heavily influenced by the type of honey used, which varies depending on the bees’ diet of nectar and pollen. While traditional meads use milder honeys like clover or orange blossom, stronger honeys like buckwheat or wildflower add bold flavors, perfect for spiced varieties.
6. Mead’s Diversity Knows No Bounds
Mead comes in many forms: sweet, dry, still, or sparkling. Beyond these basics, the world of mead offers unique varieties. Melomel meads contain fruit juices, like blackberry or raspberry. Cyser is made with apples, acerglyn with maple syrup, and braggot is a hybrid of mead and beer brewed with hops or barley. Rhodomel, an ancient variant, is infused with roses. The possibilities are endless.
7. Mead in Classic Literature
Mead flows freely in literary classics. In Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” it’s the drink of choice in “The Miller’s Tale,” where it is used to woo a lady. In “Beowulf,” the mead hall Heorot is a central setting, attacked by the monster Grendel, prompting Beowulf’s heroic battle. Even Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” features a mead hall in Rohan, symbolizing power and community.
8. Mead and Royalty
Mead has long been a favorite of royalty. Queen Elizabeth II reportedly enjoyed a particular mead recipe made with rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, and sweet briar. According to legend, Queen Makeda of Sheba gifted King Solomon with T’ej, an Ethiopian mead made with buckthorn, a drink that’s still popular in East Africa today.
9. The Origin of the Honeymoon
Forget oysters—mead was the original aphrodisiac. The term “honeymoon” comes from the medieval tradition of drinking honey wine for a month after marriage, believed to ensure fertility. This practice was taken so seriously that a bride’s father often included a month’s worth of mead in her dowry.
10. Mead’s Modern Renaissance
Mead is not just for Vikings and ancient royalty—it is enjoying a renaissance today. With nearly 250 meaderies across the United States and numerous mead festivals, the craft brewing movement is helping to rekindle interest in this ancient beverage. The future of mead looks golden as ever.
Want to learn more about mead?
Visit our sister site Up North Breweries and discover the history and more about mead in our What is Mead? article.
Ready to give mead a try? Below are some of the better known meaderies in Northern Michigan.
- St. Ambrose Cellars – Beulah
- Threefold Vine Winery – Stephenson
- Bee Well Mead & Cider – Bellaire
- Barrel & Beam – Marquette
Marisa Fancy along with her husband and four children dreamt of moving “Up North”. They had vacationed for years in northern Michigan and in 1995 they finally made the move.