To make a simple mead, dilute honey with water and ferment. You can mix this up in all sorts of ways by adding different ingredients; like fruit, herbs, and vegetables; varying the final alcohol, sweetness, and acidity; and by using different kinds of honey.
I had heard about mead and read about mead, but I didn’t know what it tasted like. It turns out that there are commercial meads available at retail, but I couldn’t find any at the time. So four years ago I started making my own. The idea was to find out “what mead tastes like,” and that meant sticking to simple dry meads. Once I made a few good examples of a plain dry mead, I could decide if I liked it or not. Well I do, and I’ve been trying out different fruit additions. In fact, I just bottled a cherry mead yesterday.
So, what does mead taste like? I can’t tell you. No really, have you ever tried to describe what vanilla tastes like? It’s used in all sorts of things and we all know what it tastes like, but how exactly would you put that into words? I’m afraid you’ll have to buy a commercial mead or make your own. The good news is: it’s easy to make, and tomorrow I’ll post a simple recipe for a plain mead to get you started.