tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41125291442312182892024-02-18T17:56:01.559-08:00Drinker of MeadAntistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-61956089762803119562010-06-10T06:39:00.000-07:002010-08-30T06:45:31.810-07:00Merkato Ethopian Mead<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTw-bRh0Jc88JWkvE8zY3VaBG6QgJ1TgYMH8wBD4dZQ09XhKkWe4EhwbAUXh0MIK4AcqXnQPVZrg8pkuG9A7MI3jjfWvmsIep9-1gWxd3QDlG_kvwGDlBk6gma8yYWTc2SziSwGfHpf39P/s1600/Merkato.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 135px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTw-bRh0Jc88JWkvE8zY3VaBG6QgJ1TgYMH8wBD4dZQ09XhKkWe4EhwbAUXh0MIK4AcqXnQPVZrg8pkuG9A7MI3jjfWvmsIep9-1gWxd3QDlG_kvwGDlBk6gma8yYWTc2SziSwGfHpf39P/s200/Merkato.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511197265849355250" /></a><br />So as my 40th birthday grows ever closer, I’ve planned a grand adventure to Egypt, to search out <a href="http://guardians.net/egypt/cj98/abughurab/abughur1.htm">the sun temples</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliopolis_(ancient)">lost city of Ra</a>, and for the solstice itself (my birthday) the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza">Great Pyramid</a>.<br /><br />As a parting gift my colleagues and I went to <a href="http://www.london-eating.co.uk/2817.htm">Merkato</a>, on Caledonian Road, about ½ mile north of <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2010/03/disappointments-of-addis.html">Addis</a>, for a feast of injura and (in my case) various spicy lamb dishes.<br /><br />The food was more interesting than Addis, but perhaps not to the same quality as from the <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2010/02/meyes-ethopian-mead-450-40cl.html">Zigni House</a>, although they have now dramatically changed their menu so not sure if that still holds to be true.<br /><br />The ambiance was more of a friendly café than the almost clinical Addis, with their surly staff, so given the choice I’d heartedly recommend the extra walk. And then to the mead, which somewhat disappointedly came in a standard wine bottle, rather than the bulbous jar, Zigni served their mead in. <br /><br />The mead was home made, and looked and smelt like a rough scrumpy. A cloudy yellow with an acidic smell, the first sip had a bite to it. A sip or two later and the faint sweetness of honey emerged but this is a seriously bitter mead.<br /><br />I had intended to take some of the bottle home for further tasting but I seem to have drunk it in one, so I’m not sure my memories are entirely accurate. As an unlabelled mead, I’ve no idea how strong it was, and as a birthday gift I can’t recall the price.<br /><br />But all in all a interesting, but bitter, experience, and perhaps the shadow of Egyptian delights to come.Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-2766248710808045722010-05-05T16:30:00.000-07:002010-05-05T16:40:05.993-07:00A Long Weekend of Mead<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEuLbxAMjXNr_DCTUVN1lW_7Wnmx6Cs2vfAHAhPXoxr8M5r1CxZMmrHYjDceEagmT-zeCRPh50bW_XSdohuTYdh_vgcUZmHcLcEqAGnoKEnBEaxSz27FMKLk2ioOSpdEz1e3BvPRtZ0hno/s1600/WineryFront.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 103px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEuLbxAMjXNr_DCTUVN1lW_7Wnmx6Cs2vfAHAhPXoxr8M5r1CxZMmrHYjDceEagmT-zeCRPh50bW_XSdohuTYdh_vgcUZmHcLcEqAGnoKEnBEaxSz27FMKLk2ioOSpdEz1e3BvPRtZ0hno/s200/WineryFront.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467934885456795954" /></a><br />So its been a while since I blogged and after demolishing a bottle of <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2010/05/eglantine-mead.html">Eglantine mead </a>on Saturday, and a recent debate about crediting peoples works ref the <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2010/03/all-about-tej.html">history of Ethiopia</a>, I thought I’d pontificate on a trip to <a href="http://www.lurgashall.co.uk/">Lurgashall</a> home of my (still favoured) mead.<br /><br />Then I may open a bottle of something completely different.<br /><br />So I’d bought a pretty expensive bottle of Lurgashall English mead at <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/04/journey-to-hive.html">the Hive,</a> and I’d suggested to my sister in passing that one day we visit the meadery in the wilds of West Sussex. Over time she became keener on the idea than me, mainly I think as an excuse to bimble around southern England.<br /><br />I was half thinking that we might end up at <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/04/mission-for-mead.html">middle farm </a>afterwards for a truly excessive mead shopping expedition. In hindsight this may have made things a tad too expensive.<br /><br />So Lurgashall is a long way from most places, in the posh bit of Sussex near the Surrey border. On a drizzly day we expected the place to be deserted but must have timed our visit to hit rush hour, as there were like people there.<br /><br />After several tastes, I bought the lot. Well one of each, at a price less than the hive. Oh and a bought some more of the dry as I think I’m developing a taste for more of the dryer meads. The set looked like this:<br /><blockquote>Christmas Mead<br />Spiced Honey Mead<br />Dry Honey Mead<br />Reserve Honey Mead<br />English Honey Mead</blockquote><br />And I thought there was a Whiskey mead, but maybe I dreamt that bit.<br /><br />I also bought some of the most delicious Gospel Green cider and my sister acquired some of Old Tom’s tipple (whatever the hell that is)<br /><br />We demolished a bottle of the Dry that night with my dad and his partner, but I think I may save the review / notes for a different occasion. For now I’m off to the <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2010/03/unlikely-occurrence-of-mead.html">Oakdale….</a>Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-67674649699416179402010-05-01T12:29:00.000-07:002010-05-05T12:38:42.784-07:00Eglantine Mead<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixhyphenhyphenVM9_G6bi2AUlOT3oamlCUISluIW66f_7HozyuH9pQ6UC9tKmWWdaPOaMBzUqDRupz8fbgFqAJm5PiQiYl4rAKlDFOjR3A8yVD1CIb1UIy7kog2LFQ68JmG4nLMXtpfmxmpG0GSfVRN/s1600/eglantine.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixhyphenhyphenVM9_G6bi2AUlOT3oamlCUISluIW66f_7HozyuH9pQ6UC9tKmWWdaPOaMBzUqDRupz8fbgFqAJm5PiQiYl4rAKlDFOjR3A8yVD1CIb1UIy7kog2LFQ68JmG4nLMXtpfmxmpG0GSfVRN/s200/eglantine.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467870628493712306" /></a><br />So the dullest looking mead in my wine rack, with a plain label, a quiet yellow hue and not much to say about itself. It’s been lurking there since a trip through <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/07/pork-pies-and-mead-part-i.html">Melton Mowbray</a> last year, and I’ve not been inspired to drink it since.<br /><br />So I visited a friend for the wont of anything to do, and over a few games we drank the mead. Well I drank most of it, and his girlfriend had a wee tipple before rushing off to work at the <a href="http://www.theunderworldcamden.co.uk/">Underworld.</a><br /><br />After a fairly good game of <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/28143/race-for-the-galaxy">Race for the Galaxy</a>, followed by a more in depth fantasy battle games (who’s name escapes me), a few too many sausages and quite a lot of cider I’m not sure how well I’m qualified to report back. I scribbled some notes:<br /><blockquote>Sweet, bit of a bite – almost reminiscent of a melomel<br />Quite a nice after taste – flavourful but not unpleasant<br />I appear to have a mead soaked moustache<br /><br />Bitter scent, with quite a smooth sip. Quite a heady drink. Perhaps a bit sweet, and what a dull looking bottle.</blockquote><br />So there you have it.<br /><br />Ok in the search for something else to say I had a look at <a href="http://eglantinevineyard.web.officelive.com/default.aspx">their website</a>, and a few other references. This is the bit I liked:<br /><blockquote><strong>And why "Eglantine"?.</strong><br />We wanted a name which immediately evokes the best of the English countryside. This is the name of the smallest of the wild English roses found growing along the hedgerows in some parts of the countryside and flowering in late Spring and early Summer. </blockquote> <br />But in my searches I found the <a href="http://www.uepengland.com/bbs/index.php/topic/15835-mead-suppliers/">anglo-saxon foundation</a> site reviewing mead, and more intriguingly another reference to Eglantine roses and mead.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.rabbitsfootmeadery.com/CAGM/guide_to_mead.html">Rabbit foot meadery</a> has been hard at work reconstructing a period recipe:<br /><blockquote>A recipe for Metheglin, a spiced mead, comes from the Closet of Sir Kenholme Digby (see bibliography ) <br /><br />'Take of spring water what quantity you please, and make it more than blood-warm, and dissolve honey in it till 'tis strong enough to bear an egg, the breadth of a shilling; then boil it gently near an hour, taking off the scum as it rises; then put to about nine or ten gallons, seven or eight large blades of mace, three nutmegs quartered, twenty cloves, three or four sticks of cinnamon, two or three roots of ginger, and a quarter of an ounce of Jamaica pepper; put these spices into the kettle to the honey and water, a whole lemon, with a sprig of sweet- briar and a sprig of rosemary; tie the briar and rosemary together, and when they have boiled a little while take them out and throw them away; but let your liquor stand on the spice in a clean earthen pot till the next day; then strain it into a vessel that is fit for it; put the spice in a bag, and hang it in the vessel, stop it, and at three months draw it into bottles. Be sure that 'tis fine when 'tis bottled; after 'tis bottled six weeks 'tis fit to drink.'<br /><br /><snip><br /><br /><strong>Spices etc.</strong><br />The spices used in the recipe were common of the time and are all available today with the possible exception of Sweet Briar. One would assume that this is possibly no more than a young shoot of blackberry briar (Rubus Rosaceae) common all over Europe with similar varieties found in the US and Canada. This shoot has been know to have medicinal properties as well as a slightly astringent quality. It may also be a reference to 'rosa eglanteria' - the eglantine rose, whose young leaves smell strongly of green apples. If you can't find them you could get the same taste from Russet or Granny Smith Apple peelings.</blockquote><br />So perhaps more by luck that judgment the Eglantine mead has tapped into an older tradition of making mead than they might imagine.Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-5087550245772771582010-04-08T13:07:00.000-07:002010-04-08T13:16:42.021-07:00Ye Olde Cornish Mead Wine<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWqmspXR7tMtUryJC2CULeBmtXSNWe-XxNcLBwIY2IaXvzs0717soDJFSkekvX4J2UweuZIE0ji26RXszT135h_U2-D1cyTin8q8pG32kPs_Vovc1vIdSpo79PdZUUI9DwOxpAEtdP-fI9/s1600/bottlesnew.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 171px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWqmspXR7tMtUryJC2CULeBmtXSNWe-XxNcLBwIY2IaXvzs0717soDJFSkekvX4J2UweuZIE0ji26RXszT135h_U2-D1cyTin8q8pG32kPs_Vovc1vIdSpo79PdZUUI9DwOxpAEtdP-fI9/s200/bottlesnew.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457863015679722866" /></a><br />And a toast to the joys of feeding cats.<br /><br />So a gift / reward / <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov">palovian</a> incentive for feeding my friends / work mates pets in the form of 2 bottles of Mead, one big (75cl) and one small(37.5cl)<br /><br />So a golden bottle with a screw tap lid and a legend reading:<br /><blockquote>Ye Olde Cornish Mead. The honeymoon drink. British produce</blockquote><br />Clearly aimed at some sort of tourist market<br /><br />A very dark coloured mead, almost like burnt sugar with a bizarre sweet smell, maybe even that of a sweet tea (or that’s the colour playing tricks on my mind). Perhaps a chemically confectionary smell?<br /><br />The first sip is not as sweet as the smell, but has that odd chemical tange, and a slightly cloying after taste.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzK9L4IsEUfdQurdOo6-TAVx7MBHE8qYCMIzcfGRwjVw8xs3ktBdh4fCnizEZwSxyud8r64Q_8T7ltBZDLHv9G90FzeyNXdvgxx1BaFE9L9Jnn-6UyJzcHPOVkyVjEm-MSbnR8pZgYrlUV/s1600/monk2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 144px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzK9L4IsEUfdQurdOo6-TAVx7MBHE8qYCMIzcfGRwjVw8xs3ktBdh4fCnizEZwSxyud8r64Q_8T7ltBZDLHv9G90FzeyNXdvgxx1BaFE9L9Jnn-6UyJzcHPOVkyVjEm-MSbnR8pZgYrlUV/s200/monk2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457862233733015154" /></a><br />The <a href="http://www.cornishmead.co.uk/">website </a>suggests what’s wrong here, the art of making mead doesn’t normally use a wine stock – philistines<br /><blockquote>Cornish Mead Wine. Combining a grape wine base with a <br />smooth honey flavour gives Cornish mead its distinctive taste.<br />Cornish mead is avalible in two strengths - <br />Cornish Mead Wine @ 15% ABV and<br />Cornish Liqueur mead @ 17 % ABV.</blockquote><br />A couple of sips later it’s more palatable, but not great. It’s some while since I started with Harvest Gold but this isn’t much better / different. Perhaps another mead to try hot on a winters day.<br /><br />Sorry RachaelAntistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-59518938412397275232010-04-02T09:18:00.001-07:002010-04-02T09:24:38.262-07:00Aengus MacLeod Met<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg294vF90SwWJo06gEWftkOZh_KpT2bsl-Rv89WtQiA0obUeKJufTLmeajkQe1TLDNaVShVTFybL05Ft1NDuQ85k_c1wpQKymq1uA-Od1dmkytrnBYzVK6RHGmoBVusgTjU9S2Pyx5OOzSe/s1600/Met.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 131px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg294vF90SwWJo06gEWftkOZh_KpT2bsl-Rv89WtQiA0obUeKJufTLmeajkQe1TLDNaVShVTFybL05Ft1NDuQ85k_c1wpQKymq1uA-Od1dmkytrnBYzVK6RHGmoBVusgTjU9S2Pyx5OOzSe/s200/Met.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455575373335101842" /></a><br />Ah Easter, seems like a plausible excuse to crack open a bottle of the sweet stuff, while listening to some classic <a href="http://www.myspace.com/eurythmics">Eurythmics</a>.<br /><br />This bottle has been gathering dust since last years <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/11/witches-mead.html">Witchfest</a>, and is brewed by that famous German Scot Aengus (well of course it is)<br /><br />A bulbous bottle and a stopped cork lid implies I don’t need to drink all of this in one sitting, well we’ll see about that. I’m also looking forward to contrasting the taste with his 3 year aged version, so perhaps I’ll do both this weekend.<br /><br />To an extent this German Mead might present the missing link between the Meads of the Celtic World (Brittany, Wales, Scotland, England) and the East (Poland. Lithuania) so although I’ve tasted this before, I’ve not done so with so many weird ideas in my head.<br /><br />The scent is sweet with a spike, maybe a hint of a melomel, the mead is a rich but slightly pale gold, and the first sip is quite a crisp sweet bite. There is a hint of something else here almost a white wine taste, so I do wonder.<br /><br />A surprising easy drink to perhaps guzzle, or simply a reflection of the mood I’m in. There’s an almost burnt aroma to the glass now, and the sweetness is quite subdued compare to more mundane mead.<br /><br />Perhaps this is the secret of a particularity palatable mead, that to some extent the sweetness is hidden, or subdued enough that there other flavours come through. All in all though this bodes for a pleasant evening.Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-90911554755609954022010-03-14T11:58:00.000-07:002010-03-14T12:10:41.241-07:00Melionnec Chouchenn (£2.50, 75cl, 13.5%)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0GtR8yhQTJc7xuQOj0hRSw62e2lWxYteRJn5KtMSYxaiPSxBR8wqKQEfbhrRRwhL9I6kLYLg5jvzTIpfo9Z0z6HtmyNUOa9_kdiX6QqNIrF338rvMbPSD5GaiQzq9pItsqiWDDuxGsSzg/s1600-h/celtic_triplesymbol.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 187px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0GtR8yhQTJc7xuQOj0hRSw62e2lWxYteRJn5KtMSYxaiPSxBR8wqKQEfbhrRRwhL9I6kLYLg5jvzTIpfo9Z0z6HtmyNUOa9_kdiX6QqNIrF338rvMbPSD5GaiQzq9pItsqiWDDuxGsSzg/s200/celtic_triplesymbol.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448568325207061538" /></a><br />My second visit to a <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/10/auray-chouchen-hydromel.html">Chouchen</a>, and this time a much more elegant look, in a delightful bottle sealed with Celtic spirals and a host of intriguing text that reads thus:<br /><blockquote><strong>Chouchenn</strong>Cuvee artisanale tradition<br />La Ruche Celtique<br />Societe coop d’apiculteurs de Bretagne, 22110 Melionnec<br />Hydromel Bretton<br />Boissopn celte d’apertif et de table<br />Gibier, crepes<br />Elabore par Joel Catherine, Apiculteur a Korneg<br /><br />Les Chouchenn<br />La Ruche Celtique<br />De la boisson sacree des Druides a la boisson favourite des Fest Deis at Fest nos d’aujourd’hui le chouchenn a toujours ete present dans la culture celte<br />Le Chouchenn Traditionl de la Ruche celtique eleve de maniere artisanale est une boisson orginale a server tres frais en accompagnement de plats cuisines de viands, poissions et desserts. Il peut etre egalement servi en cocktail d’apertif avec des crèmes de fruits (mure, peche…etc)</blockquote><br />This is clearly a mead produced by someone proud of their bee keeping and their Celtic heritage, there’s even a suggestion that there is a bee keeping society involved. Babel fish translates the back text as:<br /><br />Chouchenn The Celtic Hive Drink sacree of the Druids to the drink favourite of Fest Deis At Fest our of today the chouchenn was always present in the Celtic culture Chouchenn Traditionl of the Celtic Hive high in an artisanal way is a drink orginale has very fresh server in accompaniment of dishes kitchens of viands, pitched and desserts. It can be also been used in cocktail of apertif with creams as fruits (, sinned… etc walls) <br /><br />So there’s a suggestion of mixing mead with fruit juice, or perhaps something creamy, which probably needs clarifying before experimenting.<br /><br />The scent is distinctive and reminiscent of the last bottle of Chouchen, sweet but not as sweet as most English meads, with an acidic undercurrent. Not quite vinegar but maybe a hint.<br /><br />The mead is clear and deep gold, the first taste is sweet but again with subtle undertones, and a bit of an aftertaste, maybe a hint of heartburn but still very pleasant. There’s also dryness here and I suspect if I finish the bottle in one sitting as is my intention I’ll be not only drunk but parched too.<br /><br />There’s almost a sparkle and the flavor is getting richer. I wonder if someone has ever produced sparkling mead? Anyhow this one has a lot of flavor and the rest of the evening looks set.Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-16544500971266851922010-03-13T04:29:00.000-08:002010-03-13T04:38:00.109-08:00An unlikely occurrence of Mead<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz0_BREBFRtE2ICtN-Z5Z9ZfMlGkpEt-SbsPTfw-rzLiW_pDoO0iDQAOeDCD-curyCFZZ20f6_UjLRdwDu6paxMV72D5Hf4e-SACMBsPuTTXsVijFPhyphenhypheniJpKivC8ZWZAUhPIAa7iV52X3d/s1600-h/oakdale.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz0_BREBFRtE2ICtN-Z5Z9ZfMlGkpEt-SbsPTfw-rzLiW_pDoO0iDQAOeDCD-curyCFZZ20f6_UjLRdwDu6paxMV72D5Hf4e-SACMBsPuTTXsVijFPhyphenhypheniJpKivC8ZWZAUhPIAa7iV52X3d/s200/oakdale.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448094934413000050" /></a><br />A somewhat strange occurance last night at my favourite local. <br /><br />After a successful meeting in <a href="http://www.shepherd-neame.co.uk/pubs/pubs.php/mabels">Mabels Tavern</a>, which (to a degree) represented the culmination of a years worth of conspiring to set up a new <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/groups/peace">Peace & Disarmament network</a>. A wee bit merry and by random chance I suggested getting together at the Oakdale for a few more beers.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.individualpubs.co.uk/oakdale/">Oakdale</a> is a strange pub. It’s a back street local but a most peculiar one. They do agood beer from the <a href="http://www.miltonbrewery.co.uk/">Milton brewery</a>, a fine range of malt whiskeys and as I discovered a range of meads.<br /><br />Also the landlord also is one of the tallest Goths I’ve met, and used to (I think) organise ‘<a href="http://www.vamp.org/Gothic/Club/1518.html">synthetic culture’ </a>back in the day. Of late the pub has installed great big aquariums full of Lizards, and on occasion the landlord encourages them to sit on patrons, which is kind of surreal. The juke box is full of old goth classics, and in case you can’t tell I like it here.<br /><br />Anyhow last night I bought a beer, settled down for a drink and a chat. The bar tender then turned up with a couple of shot glasses as a free gift (you see it is dead nice here). Somewhat confused I looked at them, wondering what and why. My friend started to question if they were a mead, they were, and a familiar sweet smell suggested something strange.<br /><br />The bar tender pointed out they weren’t shots but glasses of mead. My mind boggled as my friend suggested I was the biggest mead geek in history. I explained about this site and the bartender described the range of Moniack (a Cornish mead??), Gales and I think others.<br /><br />The mead he’d donated to us was the Monaick and recognizable as such, after all I have drunk a fair amount of the stuff at various <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/11/witches-mead.html">Witchfests</a>.<br /><br />But still completely surreal. My local real ale come Goth pub donating shots of mead on a Friday night. What great start to the weekend, and perhaps the Mead revival is not inconceivable.<br /><br />Next time I’ll order a pint.Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-81554366650607215462010-03-11T04:00:00.000-08:002010-03-13T04:09:37.780-08:00Disappointments of Addis<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif5PQ9_E0I16ZrUH56KBo3tMMO8HSLytw94PIIlDPx6HcIQ22oI04PM9-TbgNPfmneIgX8JN-DA_sbdHBw07cFgaG5DSPY8wW3L6D-T6be-GjHgrvBvX1xEyabb3SL_394rjqXx6kpqolM/s1600-h/Addis.bmp"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 104px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif5PQ9_E0I16ZrUH56KBo3tMMO8HSLytw94PIIlDPx6HcIQ22oI04PM9-TbgNPfmneIgX8JN-DA_sbdHBw07cFgaG5DSPY8wW3L6D-T6be-GjHgrvBvX1xEyabb3SL_394rjqXx6kpqolM/s200/Addis.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448088122819377954" /></a><br />After finally trying <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2010/02/meyes-ethopian-mead-450-40cl.html">Ethiopian mead at the Zigni House</a>, and being very impressed I took the opportunity to seek out another Ethopian / East Africa restaurant in the quest for Tej.<br /><br />As a restaurant <a href="http://www.addisrestaurant.co.uk/">Addis </a>was fair enough, the waiting staff were pretty useless but inconceivably there was no mead on offer. Putting aside my British reserve I even asked and the waiter dismissed the ask, as either he didn’t understand me, wasn’t interested or the answer was no. There was nothing resembling Mead on the menu although there was a listing under the red wine section for an ‘Ethiopian wine’<br /><br />In hindsight I suspect an <a href="http://www.ethiopianrestaurant.com/wine.html">Ethiopian wine</a> may well be a mead, and the waiter may have just been stupid. A google search suggests there may well be an Ethiopian red wine, so I dunno maybe I should drop them an email.<br /><br />However also in hindsight the food wasn’t that great, the Injura was ok but the lamb dish was more grey than tasty. There are undoubtedly many more Ethopian / East African restaurants to visit first.<br /><br />A bit more research suggests:<br /><br /><ul>Axum Restaurant - 266 Wandsworth Road, Vauxhall, London, SW8 2JR<br />Blue Nile - 300 Clapham Road, Stockwell, London, SW9 9AE<br />Cafe Genet- Unit 7 Village Kitchen, Shepherd Bush Green, London W12 8PP<br />Damera Ethiopian Restaurant - 129 Askew Road, Shepherd's Bush, London W12<br />Fassika - 152 Seven Sisters Road, London, N7 7PL<br />Kokeb Ethiopian Cuisine - 45 Roman Way, Holloway, London, N7 8XF<br />Kokeb Ethiopian Restaurant - 45 Roman Way, London N7 8XF<br />Lalibela - 137 Fortess Road, Tufnell Park, London, NW5 2HR <br />Marathon Restaurant & Bar - 193a Caledonian Road, N1 0SL<br />Mekasha Ethiopian Restaurant - 75 Fairfax Road, London NW6 4EE<br />Menelik Ethiopian Restaurant - 42 Caledonian Road, London, N1 9DT<br />Merkato Ethiopian Restaurant - 196 Caledonian Road, London N1 0SQ<br />Mosob - 339 Harrow Road, Maida Vale<br />Muna's - 599 Green Lanes, Hornsey<br />Nazereth Cafe Ethiopian Restaurant - 4 Walton Road, London N15 4PS<br />Nile Ethiopian Restaurant - 266 Wandsworth Road, Vauxhall, London, SW8 2JR<br />Pomi Cafe Ethiopian Restaurant- 157 Kentish Town Road, London NW1<br />Queen of Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant - 12 Fortess Road, London NW5 2EU<br />Roha Ethiopian Ethiopian Restaurant - 407 Lordship Lane, London N17 6AG<br />Sinke / Senke Cafe Ethiopian Restaurant- 1b - 1c, Rock Street, London N4 2DN<br />Sodere Ethiopian Restaurant - 143 Goldhawk Road - London, W12 8EN<br />St. Gebriel Deli Ethiopian Restaurant, 12 Blackstock Rd, London N4 2DW<br />The Peacock Ethiopian Restaurant - 107 Uxbridge Rd, London W12 8NL <br />Tobia Ethiopian Restaurant - 2a Lithos Road, London NW3 6EF<br />Wabi Shebele Restaurant - 189-191 New Kent Road, London, SE1 4AG<br />Zeret Kitchen - 216 Camberwell Road, London, SE5 0ED</ul><br /><br />And a whole host of listings under African restaurants, which offers some promise too. Busy and interesting mead times aheadAntistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-66041894362740369942010-03-07T13:52:00.000-08:002010-05-05T13:05:53.507-07:00All About Tej<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb1JK1zM5BlwwmUspUnrHH-IdgHhx_dH5zqxmvv6y2Dnr2FvK2xYTniqEdD5FHZ_DRJ18not_w1xqMq9sSOWY-qjEMfx0uJkQUHZMtBb9duGJ3DJMgHoGD5Vs7wAi74WkbuCoT6-jldnp8/s1600-h/berele3.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 135px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb1JK1zM5BlwwmUspUnrHH-IdgHhx_dH5zqxmvv6y2Dnr2FvK2xYTniqEdD5FHZ_DRJ18not_w1xqMq9sSOWY-qjEMfx0uJkQUHZMtBb9duGJ3DJMgHoGD5Vs7wAi74WkbuCoT6-jldnp8/s200/berele3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446022609437456338" /></a><br />While researching Tej and Ethopian meads I stumbled upon a particular good history of Tej and Ethopia which as a precaution I’ve posted below (things on the internet occasionally and inconveniently vanish.<br /><br />However in the odd world of the internet, someone seems to have objected to me posting this here. Now if this was the original author than fair enough, but equally this is a blog about drinking mead. One would have thought that with all the credits I included, the thank you’s and the links that a sense of perspective might be possible.<br /><br />In the cause of advancing human knowledge, and of raising the standards of knowledge about the history of Ethopia, this post is hereby censored by the internet police.<br /><br />For the main text see <a href="http://www.pitt.edu/~kloman/tej.html">here</a> and many thanks to Harry Kloman for the original text. If you ever end up reading this my apologies for pinching your work. However as a precaution against loosing it {well we’re buggered now}<br /><br />All About Tej<br /><br /><CENSORED><br /><br />Off to my local book burning tonight, anyone care to join me……Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-84942058963173724322010-02-20T04:07:00.000-08:002010-03-07T13:12:47.427-08:00Meyes Ethopian Mead (£4.50, 37.5cl?, ??)Ah at last my first Ethopian mead and from a restaurant (<a href="http://www.londononline.co.uk/restaurant/1196/">Zigni House</a>) just up the road from work, which I’ve been meaning to find an excuse to visit for some time.<br /><br />I’ve been before but suffered a little from the menu which seemed to be very dish specific and the conflict between carnivores (like myself) and vegetarians (most of my friends). This time there was a fair posse and the meat dish (Zil-Zil) and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Injera">Injera</a> worked well for me.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnMRhNXG72VylE-nkVUeVzVhE4aWKA9iMDLBCFFbfcdtI8a7Sup6Slv-m09JKeQ-wt8Gz1JB7Y5OgqEqaTLE1N35A0GVxLqFY-gogOmTdhfTTWV-yU1VM3IS29iMzxI0hyajwY3OWkfzY2/s1600-h/berele2.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 133px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnMRhNXG72VylE-nkVUeVzVhE4aWKA9iMDLBCFFbfcdtI8a7Sup6Slv-m09JKeQ-wt8Gz1JB7Y5OgqEqaTLE1N35A0GVxLqFY-gogOmTdhfTTWV-yU1VM3IS29iMzxI0hyajwY3OWkfzY2/s200/berele2.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445863377470438754" /></a>The mead was served in an interesting bulbous bottle (perhaps a Berele) of indeterminate size and strength. I reckon 375-400ml in that it filled two small glasses of wine. The waitress suggested drinking straight from the bottle, and I tried but the narrow neck made it a bit weird.<br /><br />From the bottle there was a sweetish honey smell, from the glass a much more bitter one, and the first taste reflected the bitter scent more.<br /><br />This is definitely an interesting taste, not at all sweat like other meads, but still very pleasant. There’s quite a watery taste here, perhaps it’s not that strong or has been mixed, and the bitter taste may well represent what the honey has been fermented with.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqwxEqmSR1mpKEUCj45uJHcnLy6C0cjAB7Go-hycxjgSMi3QU-wZjW_KfHnIH7FA2gqUmDiiSY6NOh0Bfi6BlaDG4MAdJFqwy90bfaDiSDGxGuXMnxASz-yd2oZ7U25XJFpBDzf_73AAX0/s1600-h/Rhamnus_prinioides,_leaves.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 169px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqwxEqmSR1mpKEUCj45uJHcnLy6C0cjAB7Go-hycxjgSMi3QU-wZjW_KfHnIH7FA2gqUmDiiSY6NOh0Bfi6BlaDG4MAdJFqwy90bfaDiSDGxGuXMnxASz-yd2oZ7U25XJFpBDzf_73AAX0/s200/Rhamnus_prinioides,_leaves.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445863880730058546" /></a>The description of the brewing of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tej">Tej</a> includes:<br /><blockquote>The powdered leaves and twigs of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesho">Gesho</a> (Rhamnus prinoides, a hops like bittering agent which is a species of buckthorn</blockquote><br />And equally if I wasn;t so British I could have asked for more details.<br /><br />Still an interesting diversion from sweater meads, something to repeat and an excuse to seek out Ethopian restaurants across London, which sounds like quite a fun expedition for the coming months.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.addisrestaurant.co.uk/">Addis </a>on Caledonian road was recommended by one of my eating companions and so more to follow.Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-46325760897365626182009-12-27T11:18:00.000-08:002010-03-14T11:23:11.363-07:00Lyme Bay Christmas Mead (£11.50, 75cl, 14%)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEi8xxQYmacCVQqUw1MHDd20id7sP12CfYVAZZ9m4AruIYtYYstlQn94-HErwznkFiPConR4PuLSB506jk56OkiHNUKXWYbVR0Egh1whM0EGhrNHid7ekM23kvJhLPQ3FbKKiG_mM4TO0N/s1600-h/Christmas+mead.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 79px; height: 147px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEi8xxQYmacCVQqUw1MHDd20id7sP12CfYVAZZ9m4AruIYtYYstlQn94-HErwznkFiPConR4PuLSB506jk56OkiHNUKXWYbVR0Egh1whM0EGhrNHid7ekM23kvJhLPQ3FbKKiG_mM4TO0N/s200/Christmas+mead.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448555777321223234" /></a><br />Now I’ve never been a fan of Christmas, it seems to be a festival devoted to stress, family arguments, idiotic behavior and it has always brought the worse out of my parents sometimes with violent results.<br /><br />So for the last couple of years I’ve been avoiding going home, although last year I seem to have been tricked into a) cooking Christmas dinner for friends and then b) visting family on Boxing day with the usual results.<br /><br />After various <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/12/quest-for-scandinavian-meads.html">excitements on the Rainbow Warrior</a> this year I wanted to follow a friends advice and simply go to <a href="http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/25/2555/Quinns/Camden">Quinns, his local Irish pub</a>. I’d already planned an exciting new year with my sister on <a href="http://www.knoydart-foundation.com/">Knoydart</a>, the UK’s last wilderness (well sort of) and so an especially grumpy Christmas seemed ideal.<br /><br />Having enjoyed a few pints we headed back to his, where it turned out he’d cheated and laid on some festive cheer (bastard) in the form of a Turkey thing. I’d come prepared with a bottle of <a href="http://www.lymebaywinery.co.uk/pages/country_wines.php">Lyme bay Christmas mead </a>from the <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/11/meads-of-dorset.html">trip to Dorset</a>.<br /><br />As a new adventure, and perhaps a Christmas tradition we heated the mead, and what a delightful experience it was. Warm, sweet and full of spices. Similar to a mulled wine but much nicer and without the artifice of adding sugar to a cheap bottle of red plonk. Mead was clearly designed to be served hot to sooth the winters chill.<br /><br />To be honest I can’t remember a huge amount of details regarding the precise taste and the spices may well have masked the subtly of the honey and bitters. Still I’ll very happily drink many more Lyme Bay meads and before the winter is out, I’d like to try a few more evenings of hot mead.<br /><br />The only fly is the description on the website regarding the Christmas mead:<br /><blockquote>A rich, smooth honey Mead blended with festive spices.<br />Awarded One-star Gold at the 'Great Taste Awards' 2009</blockquote><br />Which suggests I should be stockpiling more for Christmas 2011Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-85810430281666994052009-12-24T12:26:00.000-08:002010-03-13T12:34:38.720-08:00Quest for Scandinavian Meads<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWbIfWnLVTXf0rU8BbF319IZuMZpSEN47K7ShUmNsfPlPYKAr9jrRb-Z-oRuBXJ0ixk813JVg4Zv-NhxiWcyq8E3ntZc6uvUSrsSAPTwz_valI700k-r6-YJfZzVh1UXM-ZD2ZGatPGaQ/s1600-h/rainbow_warrior.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 130px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWbIfWnLVTXf0rU8BbF319IZuMZpSEN47K7ShUmNsfPlPYKAr9jrRb-Z-oRuBXJ0ixk813JVg4Zv-NhxiWcyq8E3ntZc6uvUSrsSAPTwz_valI700k-r6-YJfZzVh1UXM-ZD2ZGatPGaQ/s200/rainbow_warrior.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448217834296868530" /></a><br />So in the way strange opportunities that come together I’ve just spent 3 weeks (and a bit), sailing on the <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/international/about/ships/the-rainbow-warrior">Rainbow Warrior</a> on a wee trip around Scandinavia on the way to the climate summit at <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/climate/picture-file-greenpeace-copenhagen-20091221">Copenhagen</a>.<br /><br />I’ve blogged elsewhere as to the highs and lows of the trip, from the <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/groups/active-supporters-unit/blog/one-week-board-rainbow-warrior">peace price in Oslo</a>, to the <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/groups/active-supporters-unit/blog/secret-diary-assistant-cook-age-39-%C2%BD">arrival in Copenhagen</a>, to the <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/groups/active-supporters-unit/blog/final-days-copenhagen">final days</a>, but somewhere in the mix the idea for a quest for Scandinavian mead evolved. Honest this wasn’t the only plan.<br /><br />The bars in Oslo broke new boundaries, and I’ll never complain about the price of beer again. At £8.50 for a 33cl bottle of cider, I’m not surprised the natives went Viking. The cheapest beer I found at £4.50 in an <a href="http://www.metaltravelguide.com/index.php?option=com_mtree&task=viewlink&link_id=705&Itemid=56">Oslo metal bar</a>, provided a pleasant end to the visit. Scouring the supermarkets and questioning the natives turned up nothing in the Mead. Maybe in the countryside or in medieval theme parks, there may be mead, but not in Oslo.<br /><br />Copenhagen in comparison proved pleasantly cheap, or just bloody expensive and after a weeks searching of a great many more bars, tourist shops, deli’s and every plausible outlet I still turned up nothing in the way of Mead. I thought the Vikings were famous for the <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/04/mead-of-poetry.html">drink of the gods</a>. Things must have badly declined in the last 1000 years.<br /><br />So nothing this time, but I’m sworn to return, to see Copenhagen on a different day ( the bars were really nice, the police were bastards) and somewhere out in the countryside I’m certain the gods await.Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-6459379179818851362009-11-18T07:59:00.000-08:002010-03-13T08:03:52.988-08:00Moniack Mead (£7.99, 75cl, 14.6%)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiskce6Ma9wsCoPEwxypwRS5o9wlNbeXN7sh3UkbXDw6hhmwjnev7kDEkfykU6XNVWvISpztGE5gA7ece9Hm0arOvbvf83LeuQ1MssABnTwxqM2I_zwFPmcleOg4ItYK9OcTui9aDXza1wK/s1600-h/Moniack.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 49px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiskce6Ma9wsCoPEwxypwRS5o9wlNbeXN7sh3UkbXDw6hhmwjnev7kDEkfykU6XNVWvISpztGE5gA7ece9Hm0arOvbvf83LeuQ1MssABnTwxqM2I_zwFPmcleOg4ItYK9OcTui9aDXza1wK/s200/Moniack.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448149177379042018" /></a><br />More than most <a href="http://www.moniackcastle.co.uk/mead.htm">Moniack </a>is the mead I’ve drunk to the point I can recognise the taste.<br /><br />From numerous bottles drunk while campaigning at Witchfest, to bottles bought in odd Delhi’s it seems surprisingly common for all it has travelled from the <a href="http://www.moniackcastle.co.uk/">Castle at Inverness</a>. The website reads thus:<br /><blockquote>Moniack Mead is made from honey and is a delicious well-balanced drink It is probably the oldest alcoholic drink in the world and has always been a wine for special occasions, especially during wedding celebrations, hence the name honeymoon. Nowadays we recommend you drink it as an aperitif. In Summer it may be chilled and in winter mulled.</blockquote><br /><br />And it’s a pleasant enough tipple, but perhaps it has grown a little routine. <br /><br />Moniack is sweet but not too sweet, perhaps slightly too cloying but compared to the other common mead Lindisfarne it’s a blessing.<br /><br />Still I’m confident it’s a Mead I’ll return to, and ideally I’ll do more than drive past the castle to visit the Meadery at some stage.Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-10322420534880379542009-11-11T09:04:00.000-08:002010-01-17T09:26:34.547-08:00Witches Mead<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkI_EcHp4oVEzb6ifi8jLS1_DAvU5889WzY1t9QsgofaThMzFSZZw-ocXK20DKtj3afCFweWhPXWLEtoZJSdQ_eQmT8LB7YcXiAG64V41F8Okx3Txo3nzdSVxNEnxqjXdJniZnR0oltHrC/s1600-h/cover17.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkI_EcHp4oVEzb6ifi8jLS1_DAvU5889WzY1t9QsgofaThMzFSZZw-ocXK20DKtj3afCFweWhPXWLEtoZJSdQ_eQmT8LB7YcXiAG64V41F8Okx3Txo3nzdSVxNEnxqjXdJniZnR0oltHrC/s200/cover17.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427761421041125970" /></a><br />So this blog has been bumbling along for a fair few months now, and I occasionally wonder why it started, and what it was that inspired my interest in Mead beyond the ennui of existence? So here’s an incident that perhaps contributed.<br /><br />For the last couple of years I’ve been an occasional exhibitor at <a href="http://www.witchfest.net/">Witchfest international</a>, which needless to say is held in the delights of Croydon town. I’m not quite sure how I started, something to do with <a href="http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/big_ask/">Friends of the Earth</a> campaigning at the <a href="http://www.lammasfest.org/">Eastbourne Lammas fair</a>, and an idea that pagans might be more receptive towards environmental issues.<br /><br />Environmental campaigning aside, Pagans seemed to be more inclined towards the drinking of Mead, in the same slightly irrational way that re-enactors are. To this end the bar at Fairfield hall, serves <a href="http://www.moniackcastle.co.uk/mead.htm">Moniack Mead</a> for Witchfest, and it’s a our favourite, economical way of staying slightly tiddly behind the Greenpeace stall.<br /><br />The last couple of years there’s been an eccentric German Scot guy there selling his own mead which is kind of cool. I think he’s German but ridiculously proud of his Scots heritage in the way normally only North Americans touch.<br /><br />Previously a friend had brought back a <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/05/catch-bear-mead.html">Catch the Bear fortified mead</a>, which at the time tasted unpleasantly lethal. A return taste was much more pleasant, but not sufficient to buy any more, and the slogan ‘Catch the Bear-it works / Barenfang tasty honey liquor’ didn’t sway me, although it’s a cool name <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A4renfang">Barenfang</a>.<br /><br />Instead the choice of a sweet aged mead (3 years+) and a demi-sec mead provided irresistible. His publicity material continues:<br /><blockquote><strong>Aengus MacLeod Met: Mead Delicious Honey Wine</strong><br />Our delicious Mead has aged carefully for 3 years in oak barrels, former sherry caskets. That aging process makes the amber coloured honey wine sherry-flavoured and assures you will keep your head clear even on the next morning.<br /><br />Selling for years on CoA Witchfest international and medieval markets in Germany we are well known for out top class Mead.<br /><br />Our Mead tastes best with 10C to 19 C. Warmed up to 70C it is a delicious hot drink.<br /><br />My beloved Lovis calls our mead “Sunshine in the Glass”</blockquote><br />I’m also intrigued by the idea that he sells Mead by the can, although my feeling is he means that stone bottles, which you get with Dutch gin / <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenever">Jenever</a>.<br /><br />Needless to say he also sells a range of drinking horns, well you would wouldn’t you. Although very tempted they kind of looked like they’d just fallen off the cow, and I’m afraid the taste of horn might corrupt my mead.<br /><br />So onto the drinking of German mead.....Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-59069688752888098732009-11-02T10:45:00.000-08:002009-11-14T11:03:48.856-08:00The Meads of Dorset<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifkANEFaRiPfnF-8xtMNI8vxm5J-QtWzSaMvXQQ1dF3oOctMCFeHtLjZMrOEff8Xw_kOXCnF8duX4zjlFgccDsNndfqBG0-6qISq8soH3Q5mLrRn8FgP_gQBMd0wsochmvfprRek6-GUSY/s1600-h/Kings+Arms.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifkANEFaRiPfnF-8xtMNI8vxm5J-QtWzSaMvXQQ1dF3oOctMCFeHtLjZMrOEff8Xw_kOXCnF8duX4zjlFgccDsNndfqBG0-6qISq8soH3Q5mLrRn8FgP_gQBMd0wsochmvfprRek6-GUSY/s200/Kings+Arms.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404034985394655058" /></a><br />What a strange weekend, and a bimbling odyssey across the coastal belt of Dorset, not so much in search of Mead but happenstance conspiring to put it within my grasp on multiple occasions.<br /><br />From the wee town of Wareham and a delightful tipple in the local pub, the Ki<a href="http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/13/13270/Kings_Arms/Wareham">ngs Arms</a>, to a deli in Corfe Castle selling for some reason the <a href="http://www.moniackcastle.co.uk/mead.htm">Scottish Mead Moniack</a>. I mean why Scottish mead in Dorset?<br /><br />Even the local <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-corfecastle">National Trust shop </a>was selling mead, a relabelled version of the <a href="http://www.friaryvintners.co.uk/meads.htm">Cornish friar’s vintner’s mead</a>. Such an excess of diversity leads to indecision, and at £16 for a 500ml bottle common sense suggested that a national trust label doesn’t add that much to the flavour.<br /><br />Finally in the tourist ghetto of Lulworth Cove a <a href="http://www.lulworthcovebedandbreakfast.com/lulworth-cove/shops.htm">country wine shop</a> devoted to English wines and of course meads. Despite being an independent retailer the shop seemed almost exclusively devoted to the <a href="http://www.lymebaywinery.co.uk/">Lyme Bay ranges</a> of both wines and meads, with the suggestion that perhaps that they occasionally stocked the awesome <a href="http://www.lurgashall.co.uk/">Lurgashall</a>.<br /><br />Still with free tasting and five varieties in stock, as an advocate of Mead drinking I think they do fine work, and their brochure hints of details that may deserve a return trip.<br /><ul><li>Special Mead (honey only) £8.95</li><br /><li>Christmas Mead (Honey & Brandy) £11.50</li><br /><li>Traditional Mead (Grape & Honey) £8.95</li><br /><li>Millennium Mead (Whiskey) £11.50</li><br /><li>West Country Mead £8.95</li></ul><br />So what is it that makes Dorset the heart of the Mead country? Do Dorset folk still maintain medieval tastes? or do retired folk settling in cute chocolate box cottages acquire a sweet taste in their latter years? <br /><br />Or is mead simply part and parcel of the tourist trail, a hint of Olde England, a memento to take home for the mantelpiece or to slowly decay in the drinks cupboard until Christmas?<br /><br />Still the first mead on the trail, the find in the pub suggests that Dorset folk do drink mead and perhaps a look at <a href="http://www.camrawdorset.org.uk/">Dorset Camra</a>, or the local beer festival may combine various musings.Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-61608587780277261132009-11-01T12:44:00.000-08:002009-11-08T12:54:00.007-08:00George Gales Mead<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbCuhISbF-bEx2Ig13GZwWAaEm5JKUpiNDFieAYYG9dl5rOLTvwYYSBNFkf5A5SsxVtY817ZHAJJUFflXkpknhcmLd6sWJi5vajMALd5mDMq9Hf7fqSx3b6rzcnckdLZVomHJSs7wZG7qa/s1600-h/Gales.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 120px; height: 90px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbCuhISbF-bEx2Ig13GZwWAaEm5JKUpiNDFieAYYG9dl5rOLTvwYYSBNFkf5A5SsxVtY817ZHAJJUFflXkpknhcmLd6sWJi5vajMALd5mDMq9Hf7fqSx3b6rzcnckdLZVomHJSs7wZG7qa/s200/Gales.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401836776428656018" /></a><br />Another new experience and perhaps an intriguing beginning.<br /><br />The mead itself was from <a href="http://www.fullers.co.uk/rte.asp?id=87">Gales country wine range</a>, and wasn’t anything special. It looks like they're produced/distributed by Fullers and I’d seen a bottle in the brewery shop next to <a href="http://www.harveys.org.uk/">Harveys brewery</a> on the way to the Mead (and cider) Mecca that is <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/04/mission-for-mead.html">middle farm</a>. I’d been in enough of a hurry not to bother going in.<br /><br />What was interesting was that it was on <a href="http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/13/13270/Kings_Arms/Wareham">sale in a pub</a>, which is something I’d been looking out for as I have an idea of a direction this rambling quest for mead could go.<br /><br />The taste of the mead was an uninspiring sweet honey like drink. An ordinary mead, by anyone’s standard, that would have pleased me 6 months ago but now is nothing to my jaded taste buds. The usual bitter after taste was in evidence, perhaps more sweet than most and all together not a bad drink.<br /><br />The landlady suggested she quite liked a tipple, every once in a while, but I wonder if Mead could be popular in pubs if it wasn’t quite so sweet. It’s hard to imagine people drinking it by the pint, whereas in days long gone that must have been exactly what happened.<br /><br />Given the massive revival of cider that has followed in the wake of Bulmers producing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulmers_(Ireland)">Magners and then Bulmers</a> to be served over ice, I wonder if something similar could plausibly happen with Mead.<br /><br />And/or as a sister organisation to <a href="http://www.camra.org.uk/">CAMRA</a>, APPLE exists for the promotion of real cider drinking. Is there scope for a subset of CAMRA devoted to the drinking of Mead? Am I alone in this madness or could I persuade others to join me? Could we start with an annual Mead award, and then move onto the promotion of Mead drinking in pubs?<br /><br />A wee while ago I joined CAMRA and they have some sort of internal forums, so perhaps when this blog has matured more I’ll open the subject on one of those forums and see where the conversation leads.Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-1958452493554348472009-10-30T12:54:00.000-07:002009-10-30T13:18:25.025-07:00Lietuviskas Midus Stakliskes<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga-n6OwNjTk71FKOrUEegSflp2Eu7plC82yllaYSIrderT3gXUiYYooJWrN03NaoiwJ3osjOSQViCcoQ_9849CaPvWfo0ErFXJfuOMoQafFw9Ld0LB2CUDUTlZ1FuDmUTgUy8Y09v7p6PR/s1600-h/stakliskes.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 132px; height: 201px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga-n6OwNjTk71FKOrUEegSflp2Eu7plC82yllaYSIrderT3gXUiYYooJWrN03NaoiwJ3osjOSQViCcoQ_9849CaPvWfo0ErFXJfuOMoQafFw9Ld0LB2CUDUTlZ1FuDmUTgUy8Y09v7p6PR/s320/stakliskes.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398484119502774626" /></a><br />A grand looking Lithuanian mead in a stoneware bottle, and another gift from a Polish friend. Generous friends are helping make this a cheaper journey, but its confusing my idea of doing a price/quality comparison.<br /><br />The bottle is more impressive than the picture but my camera seems to have exploded so this is what you get. The <a href="http://www.midus.lt/en.php?p=Product&pid=37">description on the website</a> is a little dull:<br /><blockquote>Lithuanian mead Stakliškės is named after the town where the company is located. It is made with natural honey, flavored with hops, lime blossoms, juniper berries and other valued herbs. This drink with little alcohol by volume (12%) is matured by the method of natural fermentation up to 12 months. It is very savory, and goes well with the desserts.</blockquote>And I’m hoping its less lethal than some of <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/08/midaus-balzamaz-zalgiris.html">Midus’s other meads</a>, at 12% abv it should be a more civilised drink than the others.<br /><br />Breaking the paper seal is always exciting, and something about the neck reminds me of Sake bottles. The scent is quite sharp with a sweet fruity follow up.<br /><br />The first sip has an initial rush, it’s been a while since I’ve drunk mead, followed by a flood of sweet flavours, that hint of fruit and the bitter tang.<br /><br />All very pleasant and given the slightly nihilistic mood I’m in the bottle is unlikely to survive the night.Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-65919511243206639542009-10-09T08:37:00.000-07:002009-10-09T08:56:24.511-07:00Auray Chouchen-hydromel<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBSMaxIn-r6QfjoGDi1GZZdcOgVdqelw5ZlGZRvzexq8-A_okOvNNrX5YYK1slaBVtozL-wCh3AcH0Lt4iqW5pKIdWXtz6Yc0nBb0aP5i_08LSppHTKWf_7QcZ9Z3xGgMz-n5WqeNJxMCR/s1600-h/Chouchen.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBSMaxIn-r6QfjoGDi1GZZdcOgVdqelw5ZlGZRvzexq8-A_okOvNNrX5YYK1slaBVtozL-wCh3AcH0Lt4iqW5pKIdWXtz6Yc0nBb0aP5i_08LSppHTKWf_7QcZ9Z3xGgMz-n5WqeNJxMCR/s320/Chouchen.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390626991525369858" /></a><br />Ah it’s been a while since I’ve found a new frontier in the world of Mead, my last boundaries being various drinking vessels. God I am such a geek.<br /><br />After a certain amount of abuse of <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/groups/bristol-east">work contacts</a>, a friend brought me two bottles of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chouchen">Chouchen</a> back from Brittany at what worked out to be about £2.50 each.<br /><br />I think I’ve written a rambling post about Chouchen <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/05/drink-of-elves-and-festival-of-night.html">'the drink of the elves'</a> before, I’ve found a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chouchen/33584742216">facebook page</a> and so I’m clearly not alone in my odd forms of geekery.<br /><br />This bottle seems quite exciting, it’s a corked bottle and the cork is encased in wax, so I’m guessing this has been bottled with some care. I think the Chouchen is unnamed, or at least my French isn’t up to the translation:<br /><blockquote><a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/04/patterns-of-mead.html">Chouchen-hydromel</a><br />“Aux Ruchers d’Armorique”<br />Plougoumelen 56400 – Auray<br />Servir tres frais</blockquote>Which thanks to <a href="http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_txt">Babelfish</a> I think means?<br /><blockquote>Chouchen-hydromel <br />“With the Apiaries of Armorique” <br />Plougoumelen 56400 - Auray <br />To be useful very fresh </blockquote>The scent is quit sweet but with a bitter honey tang, there’s a cloudy hint and the first sip is that of a sweet mead with a mild white wine tang, and a honey taste. Pretty pleasant for something that’s cheaper than anything I’ve ever tried before.<br /><br />I wonder to what extent the French government subsidies it as an artisan product, or at least grants tax breaks. At £2.50 a bottle there can’t be much money to be made here.<br /><br />As the glass empties there is an after taste, a sort of bitter tang, and I think this will be better with ice, but a fairly wholesome start to the world of Breton meads…Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-32312327735445315332009-09-23T12:22:00.000-07:002009-09-23T12:43:28.257-07:00Knockengorroch and the mystery of mead<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiey0M92mcEYrjomkeyq3DucyA3z7aCUAoZzj8Y4Wvb2laGbaUf1hIR65NcVObGpuVQzZ835wEpwHFbXLc24VsQBm7-9Daqn4mVnGiEXbOpkqPmt32ipXR4tXQkFu5jDzJUK75VQfZ2O_ow/s1600-h/Knockengorroch.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 226px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiey0M92mcEYrjomkeyq3DucyA3z7aCUAoZzj8Y4Wvb2laGbaUf1hIR65NcVObGpuVQzZ835wEpwHFbXLc24VsQBm7-9Daqn4mVnGiEXbOpkqPmt32ipXR4tXQkFu5jDzJUK75VQfZ2O_ow/s320/Knockengorroch.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384748988309251170" /></a><br />So it’s been a wee while since I’ve drunk much in the way of mead, as I’ve been trying to give my a liver another rest. It’s a dangerous role being a drinker of mead.<br /><br />However after the excesses of last weekend, my liver is undoubtedly suffering again and in the mix may have been some mead?<br /><br />After a hectic month of work, hey who am I trying to kid, after a hectic year of work I escaped to the <a href="http://www.wigtown-booktown.co.uk/">hills of Galloway</a> for a bimbling quiet (but unsuccessful) quest for <a href="http://www.moniackcastle.co.uk/mead.htm">Scottish mead</a> and a certain degree of festival excess.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.knockengorroch.org.uk/">Knockengorroch</a> is far enough away from people, the police and health and safety that the last 15 years seemed to have passed it by. This is a festival with a vibe from before the days of the <a href="http://www.schnews.org.uk/pages_menu/about.htm">criminal justice act</a>, and the criminalisation of everything that wasn’t part of Thatcher’s vision of a semi detached house in Surbiton.<br /><br />Recent <a href="http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Buckfast-sales-surge-after-Jamieson.2624524.jp">media hysteria</a> has boosted the profile of <a href="http://www.buckfast.org.uk/">Buckfast</a> to that of a Scottish legend. The more you try and pin all the ills of society on one particular drink the more you glamorise is. Perhaps if politicians had the guts to deal with societies problems then people wouldn’t be so keen to embrace oblivion in a bottle.<br /><br />And boy was Buckfast in evidence from the teenagers, to the bar to the punk bands singing about it. I think even a folk band sang a song about Buckfast.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6FGsHcS6vGTB_xTLpyXW_VrNiR__gv_T1RF3krStX-8vMsOaCOuGXFHc08AehqeB4cI2pf9xtpSRZOumDofq7CG0TWu3udJ6iijRzyxWfstXf6ZT-yypdzMGIJarsypySEYLEBvpuKxwm/s1600-h/MB20.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 56px; height: 62px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6FGsHcS6vGTB_xTLpyXW_VrNiR__gv_T1RF3krStX-8vMsOaCOuGXFHc08AehqeB4cI2pf9xtpSRZOumDofq7CG0TWu3udJ6iijRzyxWfstXf6ZT-yypdzMGIJarsypySEYLEBvpuKxwm/s200/MB20.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384748768004096562" /></a>Also behind the bar was a Banquet mead, which presents a mystery. Apparently it came in a box and the brewer wasn’t listed. My suspicion is that it was a <a href="http://www.lurgashall.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=details&prodID=3&curcatID=3">Lurgashall mead</a> but this isn’t going to be the most decisive review.<br /><br />Through an alcoholic haze it seemed fairly pleasant, sweet, very drinkable perhaps a bit sticky but a nice contrast to cheap nasty cider. As the first mead I’ve had from a bar, albeit a festival bar hopefully this is the herald of things to come.<br /><br />Or a test of when I can safetly buy 20 litres of mead without destroying my liver, and I can taste it in a more rigerous mannerAntistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-48605089378702474852009-08-16T13:43:00.000-07:002009-08-16T13:57:41.951-07:00Lyme Bay Westcountry Mead<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqJ9g6Wy0Ne08edlotddZ_l-tbfpkO2P90TFM-quakC3jqigcfQoIxIqAiICqzb4sKHzCUjxYjLFhRJWEf03ZlBNS4UiDpiv3PdOrmjYGi0jhR-OeNiz3vkExpF5kVMNpkuN7FhuP3HsTA/s1600-h/Lyme_bay.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 133px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqJ9g6Wy0Ne08edlotddZ_l-tbfpkO2P90TFM-quakC3jqigcfQoIxIqAiICqzb4sKHzCUjxYjLFhRJWEf03ZlBNS4UiDpiv3PdOrmjYGi0jhR-OeNiz3vkExpF5kVMNpkuN7FhuP3HsTA/s200/Lyme_bay.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370667941886759570" /></a><br />So last weekend after an eclectic pub crawl around South London, I ended up in <a href="http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/">Borough Market</a> a wee bit merry and in a foody mood. Never a cheap combination.<br /><br />After a certain amount of investigation I bought myself half a kilo of Stilton from the <a href="http://www.nealsyarddairy.co.uk/">Neals Yard dairy</a> and some Mead from the <a href="http://www.newforestcider.co.uk/">New Forest cider company</a> who seemed to be the only stall in the place to carry the Amber nectar, from the <a href="http://www.lymebaywinery.co.uk/pages/country_wines.php">Lyme Bay range</a>. Ok I admit it, I bought a wee bottle of cider too, but there was an excuse. I'd promised to buy my Dad some Mead in exchange for the Stilton, and it seemed rude not to buy some cider too, after he got talking to the proprietor.<br /><br />The Stilton didn’t last very long, and god was it good. Cholesterol is something that happens to other people, and the pork steaks in Stilton were worth dying for.. <br /><br />The Mead lasted the week, at least until a small posse of people appeared round my flat to play <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/232">board games</a>, and I wanted to offer them something more delicate that the Harvest Gold I was drinking, as their first initiation into Mead.<br /><br />So even after <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/03/harvest-gold-mead.html">Harvest Gold</a>, the West County Mead was pretty sweet. After the sweetness there’s a strong taste of honey, and the scent to match so it’s quite nice but its sweetness does it a disservice.<br /><br />Not a bad tipple, I’ll finish the bottle tomorrow and ruminate more, but nothing earth shattering. So I think I’ve failed in attracting new drinkers to the cause. At least this time.Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-6565740209499997822009-08-15T11:18:00.000-07:002009-08-15T11:30:03.490-07:00Of Kuksa’s, Vappu and Sima<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-1FeHQH58KKFmN3Eh9mmPrxLg_dvnxtGc-UdjGdhaqLN_zMM4-Wh6gBIpb7nJQn1mJgCZvYQVvqE1ugl-MRYavP0ID0hbNULP7w5AoktJBtjLmh8UXrcYilknklNcNRfGnJGYZGetYLf/s1600-h/Kuksa.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 148px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-1FeHQH58KKFmN3Eh9mmPrxLg_dvnxtGc-UdjGdhaqLN_zMM4-Wh6gBIpb7nJQn1mJgCZvYQVvqE1ugl-MRYavP0ID0hbNULP7w5AoktJBtjLmh8UXrcYilknklNcNRfGnJGYZGetYLf/s200/Kuksa.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370256972763212674" /></a><br />In a previous post I’ve declared my lust for a <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/05/on-drinking-of-mead-and-hunt-for-mazer.html">Mazer</a> as a traditional mead drinking bowl and I have at least mentioned the <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/04/patterns-of-mead.html">Finnish mead Sima</a>.<br /><br />My dad however has returned from a cruise round Scandinavia with a ‘Kuksa’ as a birthday gift, obtained at enormous cost, thanks Dad. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuksa">Described thus</a><br /><blockquote>a traditional work of Sami duodji, it is a type of drinking cup made by the Sami people of northern Scandinavia from carved birch burl.</blockquote><br />He’d been reassured by a local craftsman that it was a traditional receptacle for Mead, the man himself making his own mead, which was unfortunately not for sale.<br /><br />The story sounds plausible simply because of Sima, and its role in the <a href="http://www.2camels.com/vappu.php">Vappu festival</a>. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgty6zT1KZj38L8glxn1ho7L83HiSm23JcONDywAEGlFy_7aQPFvxfNclU4wU0atP_XoBGsj8lcEi8cnYf9NCZP4Y3eUoANYlF6X4RmRRvLE8qI0GmnPj8qDpBUNlCcfPIRPdP1tgtYSrCO/s1600-h/Sima.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgty6zT1KZj38L8glxn1ho7L83HiSm23JcONDywAEGlFy_7aQPFvxfNclU4wU0atP_XoBGsj8lcEi8cnYf9NCZP4Y3eUoANYlF6X4RmRRvLE8qI0GmnPj8qDpBUNlCcfPIRPdP1tgtYSrCO/s200/Sima.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370259439302811634" /></a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sima_(mead)">Sima</a> is described as a Sweet mead made with honey, lemon and sometimes raisins. The Sima usually being accompanied by munkki (a donut), tippaleipä (a special Vappu funnel cake) or rosetti (a rosette).<br /><br />Vappu is the Finnish version of Mayday, and undoubtedly has its pagan origins, it’s described as a two day carnival, a pagan equinox festival associated with Walpurgis Night although it’s not clear cut how old it is.<br /><blockquote><a href="http://rowenaharding.blogspot.com/2005/05/may-day-vs-vappu.html">Vappu: From Helsingin Sanomat</a><br /><br />The history of Vappu stems from Germany where May Eve is celebrated as Valpurgisnacht, a well-known witches' sabbath.<br /><br />Walburga, the original Vappu, was born in around 710 AD, and she died 69 years later in Heidenheim, in what is now Germany. She was an abbess and a missionary. Her life was naturally a good one but what singled her out for canonisation was that after her death and the subsequent interment of her relics (on May 1, 870) in the Church of the Holy Cross in Eichstätt, strange things began to happen. Her shrine became an important pilgrimage site because of the clear liquid, referred to as a “miraculous oil”, that oozed from the rock on which her tomb was placed. Some twenty years after the interment, Walburga's relics were inspected and diffused, and this spread her cult status far and wide.<br /><br />At this point we move into the realm of speculation. There are two possible theories. On the one side we have the possibility that soon after her death, the memory of her became confused with that of Waldborg, a pre-Christian fertility goddess, and the witches' sabbaths became known as Valpurgisnacht, without materially changing their contents. This confusion is not helped by the fact that Walburga is supposed to be a protectress of crops as well as a healer, and in art she is often pictured with three ears of corn in addition to her flask of medicinal oil.<br /><br />The other scenario, which seems equally plausible, is that the abbess was seen as a handy tool for quietening down the witchcraft rituals associated with this time of the year. As so often throughout the history of the early Christian church, saints' days and other holy days were often placed strategically in the calendar to counter the effects of “less devout” pantheistic or pagan festivals, and this may be the case here, as St. Walburga and her healing oils were given the tough task of countering the bacchanalian orgies of April 30th.<br /><br />This particular dodge might have worked for Christmas (timed to coincide with the very rowdy Saturnalia orgies of Roman days), but at least to judge by the standards of Finnish Vappu, there isn't very much of a devotional aspect to be seen.<br />What began in Scandinavia in the 18th century as a civilised at-home celebration amongst the academic set (many of whom had studied in Germany) has changed with time and was adopted here in Finland with the rise of nationalism amongst students in the mid-19th century.</blockquote><br />So clearly two things have come from this wee little cup. The need to visit Helsinki to join the festivities and to drink the mead, and to drink mead sooner to discover and dull the taste of the birch in the Mead.Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-79829561376774997252009-08-08T11:40:00.000-07:002009-08-08T11:51:31.949-07:00Midaus Balzamaz Zalgiris<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzuLuXSWXVeDsPbcuf5W96DNq2uEZnIvbXmgxgFlGJzxR3Rijb797MfjTFZ41BQ3B7SL789-cnO4rTvdSSC_wN2C3Gcn2PZ_CJJFhVuI4mlMFuZTorq_XaQjb1EcfdMjq3ZotdX4Luhvr_/s1600-h/PICT0017.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzuLuXSWXVeDsPbcuf5W96DNq2uEZnIvbXmgxgFlGJzxR3Rijb797MfjTFZ41BQ3B7SL789-cnO4rTvdSSC_wN2C3Gcn2PZ_CJJFhVuI4mlMFuZTorq_XaQjb1EcfdMjq3ZotdX4Luhvr_/s200/PICT0017.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367665513751028434" /></a><br />So I’ve cleared my pallet for the 6th and final mead of the <a href="http://www.midus.lt/">Midaus</a> set.At 75% abv I’m kind on intimidated by this one, but as an experience and an obstacle it needs to be done.<br /><br />And a word of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennui">ennui</a> of existence. It’s a Saturday night and a set of fine musicians are playing up the road. My friends are scattered across London and the country, and so I guess I’m going alone, which would be a lonely experience if I wasn’t so used to it.<br /><br />Entertainment is what it is, and although better in the good company of others, there is perhaps something in my nature that makes it unlikely to happy. Thus the enuui to which I refuse to surrender.<br /><br />So to the mead, this time a mead balsam which I think means something.<br /><blockquote>A mead distillate of wonderful taste and aroma, with cranberry juice and lemon juice.</blockquote><br />A mellow scent, with a hint of the strength but not much more. I’m hoping this one isn’t too drinkable, as that way lie blindness and oblivion.<br /><br />Agghhh the taste entirely what you’d expect almost pure ethyl, numb lips and nothing much to taste. I’d be tempted to dilute it with something but can’t see the point. However persistence in the face of adversity.<br /><br />So with water it’s drinkable but still no fun, and not to be repeated. No more than I expected and other true meads await.Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-6530932295720137962009-08-08T11:14:00.000-07:002009-08-08T11:21:23.683-07:00Midaus Nektaras Suktinis<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNIayFU8H_KSOhNhhn81kehjZPajZz_u4GIwXStIQYzbfxcCbOljvd5px-cOhF45WlFeJhfukH8wa4MJNzjAKuWL6Qx1h5JORfOYU2_c2y0BUvDj6Lh65gjP9Jp20W2n8Kvrkth5rlh-yd/s1600-h/PICT0016.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNIayFU8H_KSOhNhhn81kehjZPajZz_u4GIwXStIQYzbfxcCbOljvd5px-cOhF45WlFeJhfukH8wa4MJNzjAKuWL6Qx1h5JORfOYU2_c2y0BUvDj6Lh65gjP9Jp20W2n8Kvrkth5rlh-yd/s200/PICT0016.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367659193113927730" /></a><br />And so as the evening progresses. I’m investigating the bands of the night on <a href="http://www.myspace.com/">My Space</a>. I’m not sure when the world changed such that every music act the world over embraced My Space, and I wonder if this is the difference and the virtue of My Space over <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php">Facebook</a>.<br /><br />So to the penultimate <a href="http://www.midus.lt/">Midaus</a> product the Suktinis at 50%, again a half finished mead product with alcoholised blueberry, black and red currant juice and lemon juice.<br /><br />A very different scent to the last, with a pleasant cinnamon air, although there’s no such listing on the bottle.<br /><br />The first sip is strange indeed, sort of herbal with a sweet milder sting. I don’t know if we’re anywhere near the world of Mead anymore, but I think we’re doing credit to the world of Metheglin’s.<br /><br />The final taste is increasingly herbal, almost a green leaf taste, not minty but along those lines, perhaps more of a nettle than a mint, with that alcoholic reminder.<br /><br />Listening to <a href="http://www.myspace.com/smokeybastard">Smokey Bastards version of ‘Drunken Sailor’</a> definitely helps the spirit go down, although the song Sprocket has more appropriate lyrics.<br /><blockquote>If a man can’t drink while he’s living, how the hell can we drink when he’s dead?</blockquote><br />Feckless nihilism awaits…..Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-77132401840257209562009-08-08T10:54:00.000-07:002009-08-08T11:50:53.455-07:00Midaus Nektaras Du Keliai<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXcfyZa8wx3c_omhg2gtnbNgFhrgFmdEFLuG_pnvoDehc1Oz8G2WBw3J40XMz3HoG8Lk3pdkCJoHB_xAMKzSlw7DQrfTEjv43gqKvBLHyhs90b_YmYKn2VEhh8STjIOwneEvCDFQRbQHpX/s1600-h/PICT0015.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXcfyZa8wx3c_omhg2gtnbNgFhrgFmdEFLuG_pnvoDehc1Oz8G2WBw3J40XMz3HoG8Lk3pdkCJoHB_xAMKzSlw7DQrfTEjv43gqKvBLHyhs90b_YmYKn2VEhh8STjIOwneEvCDFQRbQHpX/s200/PICT0015.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367654285852303938" /></a><br />So an evening of Celtic Punk beckons with bands such as <a href="http://www.myspace.com/circlejfolkpunk">Circle J</a>, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/ciaranabc">Ciaran Murphy</a>, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/smokeybastard">Smokey Bastard</a> and the <a href="http://www.myspace.com/hackneymarshins">Hackney Marshins</a>. I’ve also got <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/04/crouch-end-triangle.html">3 wee bottles of Midaus</a> left, and although the last one is 75% abv I’ve determined to crack them. And they said pre-loading was only a habit for the young.<br /><br />So Du Kelai at 44% a half finished mead product with cranberry juice, lemon and acorn decocotion. A sweet Ethyl smell, not quite medicinal but getting there.<br /><br />A slightly fruit taste, quickly hidden by the sweetness and then the burn of the alcohol. Drinking Mead type substances of this strength must drive one blind.<br /><br />Its different to the others from the range but far from a pleasant tipple..Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112529144231218289.post-67312939372623392362009-07-21T03:49:00.000-07:002009-08-08T04:07:24.705-07:00Pork Pies and Mead (part I)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0YV4efwLwhhILo5XyXyojdDmOf4FMGMiXdJUoX1fd6Z79EV6hl2TCPapXrwDqsIAnhWOXq1pfpgpjRKq_hQG5P4Lpr1WnrhF5HToLDT6PrBc2Y3YHtovB9uW8JArh0FkUdbijhyxBS9mV/s1600-h/Ye_olde_pork_pie.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 157px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0YV4efwLwhhILo5XyXyojdDmOf4FMGMiXdJUoX1fd6Z79EV6hl2TCPapXrwDqsIAnhWOXq1pfpgpjRKq_hQG5P4Lpr1WnrhF5HToLDT6PrBc2Y3YHtovB9uW8JArh0FkUdbijhyxBS9mV/s200/Ye_olde_pork_pie.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367546082976303154" /></a><br />This part noting the absence of any mead drinking, but plenty of pork pies eating.<br /><br />In an effort to escape London and forget the guilt associated with not attending my cousin's wedding my sister and I headed towards Lincoln, for no more reason that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Castle">Lincoln</a> is apparently a place you go to, and is on the way to nowhere else.<br /><br />By the random routes we travel, we stopped in Melton Mowbray to test the pork pies, and to hear a tale of the history of the pork pie from the nice lady in the local <a href="http://www.meltoncheeseboard.co.uk/">cheese shop (the Melton Cheese Board)</a>.<br /><br />So the story went, Melton used to be famous for cheese and specifically Stilton from the nearby village of<a href="http://www.stilton.org/"> Stilton</a> (cunning name). Apparently some enterprising chap took the left over whey from the cheese making and started making special pies.<br /><br />Having already devoured a delightful pork pie topped with Stilton from ‘<a href="http://porkpie.placement.co.uk/">ye olde pork pie </a>shop’ this seemed like an entirely plausible story. My interest in <a href="http://drinkerofmead.blogspot.com/2009/04/stilton-and-mead-part-i.html">Stilton and Mead</a> having already been piqued an idea started to form (to follow in part II).<br /><br />But is the story true? <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_pie#Melton_Mowbray_pork_pie">Wikipedia describes an authentic pie</a> thus:<br /><blockquote>The Melton Mowbray Pork Pie uses uncured meat, giving the meat in a Melton pie a grey colour. Hand formed with no mould, a Melton Mowbray pie also commonly has a hand-formed crust. This style of production gives the Melton Mowbray pie a slightly irregular in shape form after baking, as with any hand-made pie.</blockquote><br />So not a mention of Stilton then? The <a href="http://www.porkpieclub.com/index.php">Pork Pie Appreciation Society</a> doesn’t talk much of the history of the pork pie, but is well worth a browse simply for the surreal nature of life. <a href="http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/weblog/pivot/entry.php?id=324">Local food heroes</a> mentions the use of Whey, and a more <a href="http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/leicestershire/69439">obscure internet site</a> reads thus:<br /><blockquote>A major bi-product of the milk used to make Stilton is whey and this turned out to be an excellent food source for pigs, thus the dairies began keeping pigs. With a use being needed for the pork, the pork pie developed along with other pork products and Melton Mowbray became home to both the pork pie and Stilton cheese, two of the most renowned products in England! </blockquote><br />And the view that Stilton and Pork Pies go hand in hand, is reinforced by the discovery of Mead in the Cheese Shop. An <a href="http://www.costock.fsnet.co.uk/page21eglantin.html">Eglantine mead </a>that is entirely unfamiliar to me.<br /><br />So Stilton, Pork pies and Mead, It’s all interconnected if only I could figure out why.Antistheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16412403142310379959noreply@blogger.com0