Mead is a whole family of drinks, not one recipe. They all start with honey and then head in different directions. Here’s a quick map of the ones worth knowing, so you can figure out which door to walk through first.
Traditional
Honey, water, yeast. Nothing else. A traditional mead is about the honey on its own, so the season and the source come through clearly. If you want to know what mead actually tastes like, this is where you start.
Melomel: mead with fruit
Add fruit to the ferment and you get a melomel. Cherries, blackberries, peaches, and citrus all lift the honey and brighten it. These tend to be the easiest meads for newcomers, big on color and big on flavor.
Cyser: mead with apple
A cyser is mead made with apples or apple juice. It sits right between mead and cider, crisp and orchard-fresh, and it’s a hard one to put down in the fall.
Pyment: mead with grape
A pyment brings grapes in and blurs the line between mead and wine. It’s richer and more structured, which makes it an easy first step for wine drinkers.
Metheglin: mead with spice
Add spices or herbs and you’ve got a metheglin: vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, chamomile, even hops. The Welsh word behind it means “medicine,” a wink at mead’s old reputation. These days it’s just about warmth and aroma.
Braggot: mead with malt
A braggot is brewed with honey and grain together, landing somewhere between mead and beer. It’s full-bodied and a little complex, and it’s the closest mead gets to a pint.
Session vs. sack
Past the ingredients, meads also get described by strength. A session mead is light and sociable. A sack mead is strong and slow. Half the fun is figuring out where on that line you like to sit.
Not sure where to start? The palate quiz sorts you into a style in about a minute, or you can see the mead we’re making.