My roommate and I have recently taken up mead-making, and we are on a new batch right now. I can't believe how motivated I've become to make better and better stuff. Our first one was made out of orange blossom honey and we used baking yeast, and it still turned out alright. Then we got Cote des Blanc wine yeast, which should make a nice honey wine. Recently, I bought some local honey from a farmer's market, and I can definitely taste the difference and am optimistic. Since offerings are a large part of my practice, this will be more than just a hobby, but it certainly is fun.
The background of this ancient drink is also fun to examine for me. Mead was popular in ancient Greece, although it was later supplanted largely by wine. I know that mead was among the earliest alcoholic drinks among the Slavs, and that mead was popular in Poland and Russia until the fairly recent advent of vodka. The mead halls of the Norse are famous, not to mention the mythic "mead of inspiration". The etymology for mead is found in many Indo-European languages, e.g. Russian "Med", Old Irish "Mid", Sanskrit "Madhu", Greek "Methu". Does mead have any significance or points of interest to anyone else?
The background of this ancient drink is also fun to examine for me. Mead was popular in ancient Greece, although it was later supplanted largely by wine. I know that mead was among the earliest alcoholic drinks among the Slavs, and that mead was popular in Poland and Russia until the fairly recent advent of vodka. The mead halls of the Norse are famous, not to mention the mythic "mead of inspiration". The etymology for mead is found in many Indo-European languages, e.g. Russian "Med", Old Irish "Mid", Sanskrit "Madhu", Greek "Methu". Does mead have any significance or points of interest to anyone else?
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