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Derrick123 · 05-15-2011, 08:21 PM

I apologize upfront!

What is the definition of mead?

I never even heard of it before I found this site. I guess I'm just not sure what it is. But I'd love to learn.

Thanks

**Revvy** · 05-15-2011, 08:23 PM

Fermented Honey "wine". One of the oldest fermented drinks on the planet. In fact the word honeymoon comes from mead drinking.

Quote:

The Scandinavian word for honeymoon is derived, in part, from an ancient Northern European custom in which newlyweds, for the first month of their married life, drank a daily cup of honeyed wine called mead. The ancient practices of kidnaping of bride and drinking the honeyed wine date back to the history of Atilla, king of the Asiatic Huns from A.D. 433 to A.D. 453.

So that leaves us with the question of where the "moon" in the word "honeymoon" originates. One piece of folklore relates that the origin of the word moon comes from a cynical inference. To the Northern Europeans the terms referred to the body's monthly cycle and, its combination with honey, suggested that not all moon's of married life were as sweet as the first. British prose writers and poets, in the 16th and 17th centuries, often made use of the Nordic interpretation of honeymoon as a waxing and waning of marital affection.

Derrick123 · 05-15-2011, 08:45 PM

Very interesting... Thank you for posting that.

Would I assume that all meads have honey in the recipe?

I will read some recipes that are posted.

Thanks again

**Revvy** · 05-15-2011, 08:50 PM

Yes it has to contain some honey in it to be considered a mead.

Besides the straight honey mead, the other varieties are-

Mead (M.'ee.d) - made with honey, water and yeast optionally with flavoring ingredients
Hydromel (Hy'.dre.mel) - the French name for mead
Sack mead (Sak') - a sweeter mead, with more honey
Melomel (Mel'.o.mel) - mead made with fruit or fruit juice
Metheglin (Me.theg'.lin) - mead made with spices and extracts
Morat (Mor'.at) - mead made with mulberries
Acerglin (Ace'.cerg.lin) - mead made with maple syrup
Pyment (Pie'.ment) - mead made with both honey and grapes
Hippocras (Hip'.po.cras ) - honey, grapes, and spices
Cyser (Sy'.zer) - honey and apples or apple cider (apple juice in Europe) Can also be made with peach, cherry or pear cider
Braggot (Brag'.got)- honey and malt, sort of a mead-beer
Oxymel (Ox'.ee.mel) - mead mixed with wine vinegar
Rhodomel (Road'.o.mel) - honey with attar, a rose petal distillate, or rose petals
Capsicumel (Caps'.sic.cu.mel) - honey with chile peppers
Omphacomel (Ohm'.pha.co.mel) - mead and verjuice, the juice of unripe grapes
T'ej (T'.Ej (Ej as in Edge)) - T'ej is honey, water and hops. It is the national drink of Ethiopia, and has a unique taste
Bochet (Bo-SHAY) - sack mead that has been burnt or charred
Rhyzamel (RISE-uh-mel) - mead made with root vegetables
Lactomel (LACK-toe (as in "big toe")-mel) - mead made with milk

Then also there is

Wine- Made with Grapes (obviously)
Cider- Made with apples
Perry- Made with pears

Clann · 05-15-2011, 08:53 PM

Lactomel (LACK-toe (as in "big toe")-mel) - mead made with milk

Never heard of this one

**Revvy** · 05-15-2011, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clann

Lactomel (LACK-toe (as in "big toe")-mel) - mead made with milk

Never heard of this one

Me neither until I saw it in that list.