Mead

Mead is a fermented alcoholic beverage made of honey, water, and yeast. It is sometimes known as "honey wine" (for obvious reasons) and is generally pronounced "meed" (IPA: ), though South Africans usually pronounce it "med", to rhyme with "red" (IPA: ).

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In Norse mythology, mead was the favorite drink of the Norse gods and heroes, e.g. in Valhalla, and the mead of Suttung, made from the blood of Kvasir, was the source of wisdom and poetry. The nectar and ambrosia of the Greek gods were probably draughts of fermented honey.

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A mead that also contains spices (like cloves, cinnamon or nutmeg) or herbs (such as oregano or even lavender or chamomile) is called metheglin. The etymon of this word is the Welsh word meddyglyn, meaning "medicinal liquor", as healing herbs were often stored as metheglin so they would be available over the winter (as well as making them much easier to swallow). Slavic miod/med, which means "honey", derives from the same Proto-Indo-European root.

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A mead that contains fruit (such as strawberry, blackcurrant or even rose-hips) is called melomel and was also used as a delicious way to "store" summer produce for the winter.

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Mulled mead is a popular winter holiday drink, where mead is flavoured with spices and warmed, traditionally by having a hot poker plunged into it.

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Hippocras is spiced grape wine sweetened with honey. A grape-based wine with added honey is called a pyment.

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Cyser is made with (hard) apple cider and honey; braggot or bracket is made with malted barley and honey.

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Fermented: REDIRECT Fermentation...

Alcoholic beverage: Alcoholic beverages are drinks containing ethanol....

Honey: Honey is a sweet and viscous fluid produced by bees and other insects from the nectar of flowers. "The definition of honey stipulates a pure product that does not allow for the addition of any other substance. This includes, but is not limited to, water or other sweeteners," according the United Sta...

Mead related Images and Photos (experimental)

Richard Mead 1739

Grand Canyon, Arizona. Las Vegas, Lake Mead Country Map

15-Year Old Skiing Prodigy Andrea Mead Lawrence

View of Boulder Dam 726 Ft. High with Lake Mead 115 Miles Long Stretching Out in the Background