Review: Bunratty Meade

Great tasters note that one way to better your understanding of a spirit is to try others. We've already tried calvados, cognac, armangnac, tequila, whisky and gin. Here's some of the more unusual spirits and drinks. Mead me halfway on this, woncha?
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Capn Jimbo
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Review: Bunratty Meade

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Bunratty Meade: begging for a hot toddy...


Both Sue Sea and I are of the age that we remember the venerable "Hot Toddy" (aka Hot Totty), a hot drink served during freezing winter storms, and often used to help relieve a bad cold, even with children. A typical toddy was made with tea, sugar or honey, lemon, cinnamon or cloves - and - a good dollop of whisky or bourbon. Yes, even for kids! I'd like to think it really worked - regardless, the warmth and soothing taste sure made you feel better.

As for the Banratty, Sue Sea said "...this simply begs to be served as a hot toddy!". First a bit of history. Mead or honey wine is really pretty ancient, a spirit made from the fermentation of honey and water and perhaps grain mash, spices, herbs or hops. According to the Wiki, it may be dry, semi-sweet, sweet or even carry natural carbonation.


Mead - the ancestor of all fermented drinks


This may be true! Claude Lévi-Strauss even called the invention of mead as a marker of the passage "from nature to culture".

That's saying a lot, but its true. The oldest historical evidence dates to about 7000 BC, where the remnants of mead and its ceramic containers were uncovered in northern China. Indeed, the marriage of mead and ceramics continue to this day. Mead marched on through history and is mentioned in ancient Hindu and Vedic texts (1700 BC). Due to my partial greek heritage I have long been familiar with the Greek ove for honey - used for medicinal purposes, and found in all manner of Greek delicacies - and with the fact that Mead was the preferred drink of the Greeks for centuries.

Mentions of Mead abound through history in all manner of songs, poems, and religious texts and was a key dedicational component in marriages, warfare, celebrations and the like. Amazing! Later mead meandered through central Europe and the Baltics, England, Scotland and Ireland (the source of the Mead we'll be reviewing).

As noted by Usiage, the U-Man, Mead was the drink of the ancient Gauls and Anglo Saxons. In Ireland it became the drink of banquets and in the courts of the Four Kings.


Throw away your Viagra!


Yup, Mead was, and still is considered to have powers of virility and fertility. Accordingly, it became customary to for the bride and groom to drink mead for a "full moon" (one month) after marriage to insure fertility success.

The source of the term "Honeymoon"!

Even today it remains traditional in Ireland to toast the bride and groom with copious amounts of Mead at the wedding feast, just prior to their departure into the Land of Major Penetration.


Finally, the fackin review: Bunratty Meade, Ireland


Sue Sea:
What a lovely story! It is true that a very important part of appreciating rum, and all other spirits for that matter, is understanding the history of spirits. Since mead may well be the forefather of all spirits, I was excited to see what all the hoopla of history was all about.

Bunratty Meade is a product of Ireland, and true to its roots comes in a wonderful, off-white, short-necked ceramic bottle featuring a black neckband, corked cap and a scroll style label featuring an ancient castle. The back label reveals a brief history of mead and of the Irish "honeymoon".

For some reason I found its cloudy deep amber color surprising, particularly because the Bunratty Meade is made with "white wine, honey and herbs". I was actually expecting something in a light gold. Bunratty Meade opened with a honey, and orange blossom tea, like opening a jar of honey. I found the aroma of a stack of cut firewood stored outside, providing some interesting earthy tones. Really quite lovely and reassuring in the manner of a hot toddy.

The early palate was sweet, almost creamy, with a deep emerging orange citrus, moving to a warm, mild cinnamon and spicy finish. Think warm apple pie.

I think the Bunratty Meade would make an absolutely terrific wedding gift, not least because of the backstory of mead, but also due to its handcrafted ceramic container, well worth saving and deserving a candle as a memory of the wedding day.
Me: Bunratty Meade is really quite a unique, medium-bodied and pleasantly unique. The nose opened with an unexpected sour/sweet, earthy, honeyed forest floor. It borders on having a "...you have to take your medicine" effect that makes you wish you had a cold. But from the moment of touching your lips and tongue that all changes as elements of citrus, honey, tea and perhaps a red apple juice emerge and move smoothly to a mildly warm and sweet cinnamon finish.

Of course I have no way of really saying so, but I'm confident that any mead from Ireland is bound to made with care and attention to long held Irish tradition and taste. The Benratty Meade was orginally priced at $60, but on closeout for just $15. I will absolutely return to buy a few more, if only for what will surely be memorable, meaningful and tasty gifts...

Score (10 is best): not scored.


Bottom Line:

Mead is made in many ways.

1. Some meads are made with white wine, with honey et al simply added to it, and are then called Meade (with the "e). Bunratty is one of these. The Wiki states this style is closer to a "Hippocras" (ancient Greek style method). In this style the goodies are steeped in warm wine, then filtered. The Greek physician Hippocrates used his "Hippocratic" conical sleeve to filter water, ergo "Hippocras".

Learning this was particularly pleasing to me.

2. A mead that contains spices may also be called a "metheglin".

3. A mead that contains fruits is called a "melomel", and if fermented with grape juice is called a "pyment".

And on and on...

Keep in mind that the original mead was simply a mixture of honey and water that was allowed to ferment based on the natural wild yeasts that came with the honey. Since wild yeasts vary tremendously, so did the mead. Today mead makers use many of the commercial yeasts used in beermaking; however, a number of specialty yeasts have been developed specifically for mead.

For the "Mead Heads" out there, the Wiki (who should receive great credit here) has an amazing list of the many, many different types of mead still being made (link). Page to the bottom of the article...
RT
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Post by RT »

Perhaps I should make a run down to Meadville, PA and see what I can find :D
Students of the cask, reject naught but water. -Charles Gonoud, Faust Act 2
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