Manuka Mead

Has anyone ever tried making a mead with manuka honey? Is it nice? Or just not worth it at all? It usually costs about £10 a pot here so I always just ignored it, but just spotted some for about £3 a pot so I could probably manage a small 2L batch with 3 or 4 pots.

I made a traditional batch about 1 1/2 yrs ago, last time I sampled it, it reminded me a Flintstones vitamins. hopefully that ages out.

Hum? No tried it either, mainly because of the price, but would that depend on the "manuka factor" cos I've seen some labelled as +5, +10, +15 and +20, the last one being the most expensive ........

Oh, and I seem to recall reading that you could get it in Aldi or Lidl for something like £4 per pound...

Yeah I happened to be in aldi when I saw it. Was +10 and tastes fairly mild as far as honeys go, though is pretty tasty.

Insomniac said:

Yeah I happened to be in aldi when I saw it. Was +10 and tastes fairly mild as far as honeys go, though is pretty tasty.

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Ah, well if it's "pure +10", then at that sort of price it's a steal.

Have a look at the Paynes Manuka listings, and you'll see what I mean......

Oh and it depends on what size the "pots" are i.e. 1lb/454g or 340g/12oz ?

They say on then 'pure unpasturised mono floral' or something like that, they are only 250g pots, so still a bit pricy which was why I was only thinking of going with the 2L batch for it. Will take a look at the paynes site now.

Insomniac said:

They say on then 'pure unpasturised mono floral' or something like that, they are only 250g pots, so still a bit pricy which was why I was only thinking of going with the 2L batch for it. Will take a look at the paynes site now.

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Well, that means it's £6 for 500g and works out a bit less than half the price Paynes want for +10

So if it was me, I'd just say "what the hell" and get 2kg of it and make a batch of traditional with it - you can always use 1.75kg and then keep a 250g pot for back sweetening. That'd make it like a Sack mead i.e. strong alcohol but also sweet once the back sweetening is done.......

Well, I just went to go and get these, and was umming about going for the full 4.5 litre batch until I got there and realised it was £4 a pot, not £3. Which brings it to £8 for 500g, or just over half the price for the paynes +10 honey. So I went for the 2 litre plan. Though mostly because I have 400lb of honey I got off ebay at the moment so any new honey is an extra cost I don't need to make now rather than one I will end up making anyway

Was reading up about manuka honey, I've yet to stumble over a supplier of it here in the US, it sounds pretty tasty, I'm guessing the high price is due to the import costs on it?

I have 400lb of honey I got off ebay

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very nice, about 35 gallons? was it local pick up? seems they would kill you on shipping for that much.

*Edit...lol just did a quick search to see how much it would be, without shipping it would be about $30 a pound, $450+ for a 5 gallon batch is a bit out of reach still.

Pickup, though not all that local, took two cars to do it! Manuka isnt so much expensive because of shipping as much as the extra medical benefits that have been discovered, such like putting it on cuts etc. I dont think the cost was so high before...

Insomniac said:

Pickup, though not all that local, took two cars to do it! Manuka isnt so much expensive because of shipping as much as the extra medical benefits that have been discovered, such like putting it on cuts etc. I dont think the cost was so high before...

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I haven't read what the exact, perceived health benefits are supposed to be, but its not putting it on cuts........that's one that's supposed to apply to all honey. I recall something about other "apparent" benefits but the cost is to do with that and relative rarity outside New Zealand. Whether the health claims are supported or more hippy mumbo jumbo, I can't say..........just that the higher the "manuka factor" the more bloody expensive it is......

Yeah, not entirely sure of the benefits either, hence the vagueness of my last post, should maybe hit google.

Did a search, seems there is regular and there is active manuka honey, if I read correctly it's only supposed to be considered "active" if it has a "umf" rating of +10 to +16, less than +10 I guess it just doesnt have the miracle cure all aspect as it said that +10 and higher is suitable for "serious" conditions.

http://manukahoney.com/

that site has a list of all the things it is said to cure or prevent but note that they all start with "studies are showing that...." no where does it really say manuka honey is the ****, eat a teaspoon a day and you will never have to worry about any bad bacteria again.

but the claims and personal testimonies are enough to drive the price through the roof by taking it out of the category of food that is already good for you like all honey unless somehow you are allergic into medicinal applications.

It has a lot to do with market demand as well like FB said, in new zealand its as readily available as clover honey is in the united states so in and of itself it's not technically a rare varietal

I Live in New Zealand, always have and can tell you what a Manuka mead is like ....

Not that great in comparrision to other honeys
Infact I had some well aged Havills Manuka mead, and it didn't take my fancy .. I much prefered some of my own stuff
I much prefer our native bush honey ( Rewarewa )
It has a subtle smokey / malt taste
Dont know how you'd go about getting some though

Manuka is just a hyped up type of honey we sell off to Asia and the States for stupid money, that's my view and I cant speak for amazing health benefits.

Heres a link of honey types I get locally, just for interest
http://www.aratakihoneyhb.co.nz/range/honeyland.html

I recently started a Kamahi batch ;-)

Thanks for the post! I already have a batch of rewarewa mead on the go as they stock it at paynes, good to hear it makes a good mead!

Excellent!
:-d

While we're on the subject, i was considering making a batch of snake oil mead. Anyone ever try it?

Nope never tried it but panacea could be a good name for it, market it as the temporary cure for EVERYTHING, take two bottles and call me in the morning for a refill.

Anybody remember "Simpson and son revitalizing tonic"?

the taste description of manuka honey mentions an "earthy" taste. that may be why most of mine tend to end up a bit musky muddy tasting. its not a taste you notice when eating the honey but its a bit more noticeable when its watered down.

the health benefits of UMF grade manuka is well tested. its basically an anti bacterial. unfortunately it gets broken down in the intestines so eating it doesn't do a lot for you, tho it may help with ulcers. its main thing is for putting on cuts, burns etc. i think it still works against drug resistant bacteria. a few guys here do hospital grade and is sold to hospitals, army etc.
the labs can test for the active ingredient, MGO and also the precursor which converts into MGO.

one thing to watch is the cheaper table manuka is often kanuka. the plants look similar, honey taste is similar, the pollen is identical and in some areas of NZ they flower at the same time.

Rewarewa is really nice. i just don't get any locally but it is sold overseas so you guys should be able to get some.