Why is it so hard to find good commercially produced mead?

[nfunk]

I have tried several commercial meads. The only one that I found note worthy was "Honey Sun Iqhilika - African Herbal Blossom" mead. It is semi-sweet at 12% alcohol by volume. It is a product of South Africa. I found that this mead had a complexity that surpasses every other commercial mead I have tried. The label says, "...with subtle hints of cinnamon, apple rosehip and hibiscus flowers." I found this mead at Whole Foods, but not every Whole Foods carries it.

 

[NeverDie]

I have tried several commercial meads. The only one that I found note worthy was "Honey Sun Iqhilika - African Herbal Blossom" mead. It is semi-sweet at 12% alcohol by volume. It is a product of South Africa. I found that this mead had a complexity that surpasses every other commercial mead I have tried. The label says, "...with subtle hints of cinnamon, apple rosehip and hibiscus flowers." I found this mead at Whole Foods, but not every Whole Foods carries it.

Cool! I never even thought to look at Whole Foods for mead.

 

[Maylar]

I had one at Easter that I'd buy again - Honey Run Elderberry. Kinda sweet but very tasty. Unfortunately after visiting their web site it seems they're going out of business. Which is too bad cause they're about the only mead that my local wine shop sells.

 

[wasully]

I'm not just talking short-term. It's generally not a sustainable business. Most of the income for most beekeepers comes from helping to pollinate almond crops, which does not produce but rather consumes honey. Watch the Rotten series on Netflix.
Beekeepers here on the forum say you can't profit from selling less than ~$12-15/lb or so.

So is it all hobbyists then? Because almonds don't exactly grow everywhere.

 

[deere322]

https://www.hiddenlegendwinery.com/

I've bought a few from these guys and really liked all that I tried.
Ones that stand out where the dark cherry and dark mead.

 

[Blacksmith1]

So is it all hobbyists then? Because almonds don't exactly grow everywhere.

I see hives in orange groves, and on large agricultural properties here in FL. There are also some on otherwise vacant lots here in town. So I'm guessing it's both.

 

[NeverDie]

So is it all hobbyists then? Because almonds don't exactly grow everywhere.

I'm sure he meant almonds as an example of pollination services, not the entire market for such services.

 

[bob1852]

Because almonds don't exactly grow everywhere.

That's why it generates so much income. They can charge a hefty price to truck their bees from all over the county to California for almond pollination season...

 

[wasully]

What makes almonds so lucrative?

 

[bleme]

The only problem was I had a weird allergic reaction to drinking it.

I'm curious what your reaction was. I won a 6-pack of homebrew mead in a raffle a few years back and a single bottle would make my face numb.

 

[NeverDie]

I'm curious what your reaction was. I won a 6-pack of homebrew mead in a raffle a few years back and a single bottle would make my face numb.

It made breathing more difficult, and I coughed a lot.

 

[bleme]

It made breathing more difficult, and I coughed a lot.

Ah. I'd rather have a numb face...

 

[bob1852]

What makes almonds so lucrative?

Old article but it covers much of the information...

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/migratory-beekeeping-mind-boggling-math/

Throughout the year hives are moved all over the country to pollinate various crops, but early in the season, it's basically almonds or nothing...

 

[NeverDie]

Ah. I'd rather have a numb face...

What could cause these reactions anyway? In my case, it was just that one bottle, but it was repeatable. And it tasted great, by the way.

 

[bleme]

What could cause these reactions anyway? In my case, it was just that one bottle, but it was repeatable. And it tasted great, by the way.

I'm not sure, but I get the same reaction if I take more than one naproxen.

Btw, I have all the ingredients together to make a JOAM. I just need to find a round Tuit.

 

[NeverDie]

I'm not sure, but I get the same reaction if I take more than one naproxen.

Btw, I have all the ingredients together to make a JOAM. I just need to find a round Tuit.

If you do even just a little bit every day, then eventually you'll get a round tuit.

 

[Blacksmith1]

What makes almonds so lucrative?

Almond milk, almond joy candy bars, roasted almonds, and everything else they put almonds in. Have you looked at the price of them lately? Swmbo got some for her baking and like to have killed me for even suggesting that I'd like to use them for an almond wine. (Slight exaggeration)

 

[RedHeadMead]

Taste is subjective. We all have likes and dislikes. The 2 mead companies that i have enjoyed are dansk mjod and buzzed bee in iowa.

Dansk Mjod is more traditional mead and comes in nice ceramic/clay bottles. It's good stuff but costs about 35 dollars a bottle.

Buzzed Bee is somewhat local for me but i would consider their mead more wine-esque.

 

[tecassassin]

I've tried about 10 different bottles now from different vendors, and, all but one or two seemed pretty bad (definitely not worth buying again). Why is that? I can pretty easily find a good bottle of wine, but finding a good bottle of mead is almost like searching for the holy grail.

So far I've had better results from homebrewing mead, but I would have thought that professional brewers, with all their resources and experience, could do at least as well and maybe better and that competition would elevate those with better products and that stores would have reason to carry the best of what's available.

Have you tried Midas Mead? They're a UK meadery but are apparently really good.

 

[Curtis2010]

Ive not had good luck w commercial meads either, but I have had a few from small breweries that were good and some awesome HB's.

 

[AndiSnake]

This is an older thread, but I figured rather than start a new one since I wanted to ask the same/similar question.

I've been getting into mead the last couple years and last year my sister got me a mead making kit (just a 64oz jug) and so now that's a thing I am trying my hand at. Have expanded to a couple 1 gallon carboys but have very limited space (basically brewing under my sink in a 1 bedroom apartment) and have been skimming these forums and other sites for problem solving the last few months, so you'll probably hear more from me now that I finally signed up.

But anyway, the relevant question to this thread, when it comes to buying commercial mead, I've always had better luck if I spend over $25 on a bottle. Whenever I have tried the cheaper meads (most recently one I found at Trader Joes called Camelot Mead), they tend to be sickeningly sweet. Not saying I've loved every pricier bottle I've tried, but that I would chalk up to personal taste. I want to know why it seems to be consistent that any cheaper meads seem to always be sickeningly sweet and if anyone else agrees with that? I feel like I can find a decent red wine for under $10 -- maybe a super expensive red wine would taste better, but I can find cheap ones that are enjoyable, but with mead...I've never purchased a bottle for less than $25 that was any good at all (like...Camelot I just ended up dumping most of the bottle down the drain) and they all seem bad in the same way-- which is way too sweet.

There is a local (to Oregon) company Melchemy that makes good meads, imo. I haven't liked every one I've tried from them, but they had an apricot cinnamon mead that was really good and a juniper pine one that was good, if interesting. Their Elderflower one wasn't a favorite for me, but definitely better if you let it breathe a bit before drinking.


tl;dr is there a good commercial mead that is available for less than $25 a bottle?

 

[Dan O]

This is an older thread, but I figured rather than start a new one since I wanted to ask the same/similar question.

I've been getting into mead the last couple years and last year my sister got me a mead making kit (just a 64oz jug) and so now that's a thing I am trying my hand at. Have expanded to a couple 1 gallon carboys but have very limited space (basically brewing under my sink in a 1 bedroom apartment) and have been skimming these forums and other sites for problem solving the last few months, so you'll probably hear more from me now that I finally signed up.

But anyway, the relevant question to this thread, when it comes to buying commercial mead, I've always had better luck if I spend over $25 on a bottle. Whenever I have tried the cheaper meads (most recently one I found at Trader Joes called Camelot Mead), they tend to be sickeningly sweet. Not saying I've loved every pricier bottle I've tried, but that I would chalk up to personal taste. I want to know why it seems to be consistent that any cheaper meads seem to always be sickeningly sweet and if anyone else agrees with that? I feel like I can find a decent red wine for under $10 -- maybe a super expensive red wine would taste better, but I can find cheap ones that are enjoyable, but with mead...I've never purchased a bottle for less than $25 that was any good at all (like...Camelot I just ended up dumping most of the bottle down the drain) and they all seem bad in the same way-- which is way too sweet.

There is a local (to Oregon) company Melchemy that makes good meads, imo. I haven't liked every one I've tried from them, but they had an apricot cinnamon mead that was really good and a juniper pine one that was good, if interesting. Their Elderflower one wasn't a favorite for me, but definitely better if you let it breathe a bit before drinking.


tl;dr is there a good commercial mead that is available for less than $25 a bottle?

Moonlight Meadery out of Londonderry NH has some pretty good ones. There was one though, that I took one sip of & spit it out in the toilet along with the rest of the bottle. There was a picture of a on it, I think his ass was part of the brew.
That said, he's got over 70 flavors, I have not tried them all, but, the ones that i tried I liked.

 

[CKuhns]

Check your local breweries and Cideries.

I travel a lot for work and find that on occasion you can find craft Brewers and sometimes Cider makers who are also Mead makers. (The mead tends to be better in my opinion than commercial, bottled.)

Just a few I have found:
Boiler Brewing Company 2 locations Lincoln NE Last time I was in had 1 session 8% ABV and 3 Melomels 14% (They were VERY good) and on tap along with about 20 beers and 4 or 5 seltzers. (They make them all.)
Cider Works in Minneapolis MN almost always has a couple of session meads on tap. Honestly nothing to write home about but OK and worth a try. Honestly though, their ciders are better.