2012 Mead

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Confucius

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I'm a big fan of special drinks for special occasions, and what better occasion than the end of the world? Okay, so I don't actually think anything is going to happen, but on the off chance it does, it would be nice to sit on the porch, drinking some mead, and watching the light show. If nothing happens, I have Christmas presents. :D

So, I've been thinking about what would be a good mead to make. I'm thinking fairly dry since it has some time to age. Anyways, here is what I'm thinking, any comments, or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Per Gallon (not sure about how much I want to make):
Three pounds honey (I'm thinking clover, any suggestions?)
Eight ounces dried cherries
Zest of an orange
A vanilla bean or two
Champagne yeast
Yeast nutrients & energizer
Water to one gallon

After primary I plan to rack into a secondary with some toasted oak for a month or so, and then into bottles to age.

Any thoughts?
 
For such a super occassion I'd use a honey of higher quality that clover (maybe orange blossom?)

also, what's your goal with the cherries? 8 oz. of dried may be too little....

I'm with ya, I'll get a 12/10/12 apocolypic mead going soon when I bottle one of my meads soon....
 
Did I miss something? What happens in 2012? Nuclear meltdown? Aztec calender runs down? Dogs and cats living together?
 
Did I miss something? What happens in 2012? Nuclear meltdown? Aztec calender runs down? Dogs and cats living together?

I believe in 2012 the aztec calendar ends, as well as several other prophetic predictions of the end of the world.

Edit: Oh yeah, I seem to remember it also being a time when the moon and sun and center of the milky way all line up or something. Supposed to be bad news! :)
 
TEOTWAWKI mead, interesting idea. Think maybe something should go into the recipe that would be related to the ancient Aztec culture that spawned the end date of 2012? Maybe a specific variety of honey from that region, or some type of fruit or spice? Mexican worm (caterpillar) maybe? Maybe this could be a group brew, like the leap year mead. Regards, GF.
 
I think aztec I think good dark bitter chocolate, if it's something you like you could try to incorporate that in.
 
Hmm, all good ideas. It looks like Avocado and Orange Blossom honey are both fairly common Mexican honeys. And I do like the chocolate idea, any ideas on whether it would be better to use powder or cocoa nibs? Probably nibs for ease of racking...

So maybe a Avocado (apparently tastes buttery) honey / cocoa nib mead, maybe with some peppers in there.

The cherries, well the cherries are mostly because I like cherries, but I suppose I could up the cherries and use this recipe for a different occasion.
 
I would say if you are looking for traditional Aztec or Mayan flavors you should consider spiced chocolate. Traditional flavors would be things like peppers, ginger or cinnamon. Cocoa powder would be moderately hard to work with, but the nibs might not give you the same kind of flavor profile you are looking for.

One thing to think about is how sweet your mead is going to be. If you make a really dry mead the cocoa might overpower it with bitterness. Seems like you will have to really balance the cocoa flavor profile with the sweetness of the mead. On the whole it could be a great project, though it seems pretty complicated as far as the flavors go.

A book I would recommend that has a lot of info on traditional chocolate is called The New Taste of Chocolate: A Cultural and Natural History of Cacao with Recipes by Maricel E. Presilla. The book has a lot of info on cocoa and multiple ways to use it and/or process the raw beans, nibs or how use the finished commercially available chocolate.
 
Given the amount of time for aging, and the circumstances with archaic civilizations lack of extreme foresight, I would create a sack mead. Get the most alcohol you can out of your mead.

Just drop a bunch of nutrients and champagne yeast into 5 gallons of pure honey ;)
 
I think Thromgar is on the right track with the spiced chocolate idea; originally all chocolate was spiced, usually with chilis & often with other spices as well. Sounds like we've got the beginnings of a group brew here; if so, Im in. :mug:
 
That's the wrong date.. it's 12/21/2012. ;)

close, its 12/12/2012. is it coincidence that the mayan and incan calendars end on such a peculiar date? nostradamus predicted an asteroid would impact the earth on the date and obliterate life. the sun and moon will also align with the exact center of the milky way on that day. coincidence or not, that's pretty interesting.

Edit: Just did a little research and it seems 12/21/2012 is the day. My bad. Serves me right for reading people's personal websites for info!
 
So maybe a free for all as far as recipes go, as long as it's bottled & ready to drink on 12/21/12 for TEOTWAWKI? Anything else going to be required? A start date maybe? Anything else required other than honey, water & yeast? This could be our last drink, we'd better make it a good one just in case it is; something to sip while we watch the zombiepocalypse, or the asteroids come in, or the mushroom clouds sprouting on the horizon. Damned if I'm going to drink crap on that day. Regards, GF.
 
I'm in.

I've heard of this date a couple times and 12/21/12 is the right one. That's the end of the Mayan calendar, the winter solsice in 2012, and the solar alignment. Coincidentally several other ancient civilizations and prophets seem to have come up with that date independent of each other.

I think some spice would be a good idea, and definitely a nice honey maybe Buckwheat? Spices unique to their region would also be a nice twist, but I'm far from an expert on what would fit that criteria.
 
Google Rules!!

After a couple quick searches about Mayan fermented beverages it turns out, that like most ancient peoples they made Mead. Their drink was called Balche and was made from honey, water, and the bark of the Balche tree.
Balche is a kind of mead, an intoxicating beverage consumed by the ancient Maya and by some of their descendants today. These people make the drink in a trough or a canoe, which they fill with water and honey, adding chunks of bark and roots from the balche tree. The mixture begins to ferment immediately. It results in an inebriating drink the people consume during rituals and believe to have magic powers.
The peoples of Mesoamerica have long held the balche tree and their mysterious beverage sacred. Because the drink had strong religious significance to the Maya, the Spaniards banned the beverage in an attempt to convert them to Christianity. The ban was observed until a Maya named Chi convinced the Spaniards that balche had important health benefits and that many Maya were dying as a result of the prohibition. The Spaniards then lifted their ban, and balche rituals resumed. . . .
The Lacandon. . . believe that the gods gave balche rituals to them, and that because the gods themselves first became inebriated by the beverage, the people from then on had a duty to imitate the inebriation of the gods and to experience that same exhilaration. The Lacandon chant incantations while preparing the balche. . . First, the brewer offers his drink to the gods; then, later, the people partake of it, usually just before dawn. The Lacandon call the balche brewer "Lord of the Balche" and they identify him with Bohr or Bol, the god of inebriation.
– Nectar and Ambrosia: An Encyclopedia of Food in World Mythology, Tamra Andrews 2000,

I couple more searches, and the best flavor description I came up with was, "A bitter, mildly intoxicating drink."

This link has the best description: http://www.wide-format-printers.org/FLAAR_report_covers/705528_Sacred_drinks_and_food.pdf
 
Google Rules!!

After a couple quick searches about Mayan fermented beverages it turns out, that like most ancient peoples they made Mead. Their drink was called Balche and was made from honey, water, and the bark of the Balche tree.

I bet this is part of why the calender and the world ends in December 2012. While everyone else is out celebrating, drinking this Balche Mead and getting sloshed, some ancient brainiac is stuck working on the Mayan calander. Pretty soon he just gets up and tired of it and says "crap, I can't take this any more. The world is just plain going to friggin end 12/2012." And then went and joined the party.
 
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