ABOUT MEAD & HONEY MEAD is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of a mixture of honey and water. With fruit and spices added as flavorings it is called by different names: melomel, metheglin, pyment, cyser and others. It is typically clear with a slight gold tint and an alcohol content of between 7-22%. A wide variety of types can be produced ranging from a very dry and light mead similar to more traditional grape wines; a sweet and heavy-bodied type; and, a sparkling mead resembling a sparkling white wine. Until the late middle ages both mead and sparkling mead were highly popular beverages, especially in northern regions of Europe, where wine grapes could not easily be grown. As the importance of honey was displaced by less expensive sugars in the late Middle Ages, mead was gradually displaced by less costly beers and ales and to a lesser degree by imported wines. It was always sought after for medicinal value and was prescribed even to royalty. HONEY is the prime ingredient that sets mead apart from other fermented beverages. While wine is fermented from fructose, and beer is fermented from maltose, honey contains a variety of sugars that give it a complexity unsurpassed. The actual composition of honey varies based on the floral source, and thus, each honey is a signature of the region from which it originates and the quality of the flowers and produce. Honey is composed primarily of monosaccharides, glucose and fructose. However, honey also contains numerous other types of "higher" sugars (Oligosaccharides), as well as acids, proteins, minerals, pigments, flavor and aroma substances, sugar alcohols, colloids and vitamins. Some of the disaccharides in honey are maltose sucrose, kojibiose, turanose, isomaltose, and maltulose. High quality mead will carry over the attributes from the honey, preserving the distinctive flavors and aromas of the honey from which it was derived. The subtle nature of honey, allows the mead maker to add a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices to enhance the character and complexity of mead. When fruits, vegetables, herbs or spices are added to mead, they are known by other names, depending upon what is used. For example:      Pyment – grapes      Cyser – apples or pears      Melomel – peaches, cherries, elderberries and most other fruits      Metheglin – herb or spice
	MEET THE MEADMAKER A beekeeper since the age of fifteen, Vince Carlson still tends his own apiary (beehives). After fifteen years of learning about bees and honey, he discovered the ancient secret of mead. His first glass of mead, presented to him from a mead maker, sparked his passion and eventually gave birth to Adytum Cellars. Once he started making mead, it didn’t take long to realize the process was a wonderful way to preserve the freshness of fruit to enjoy year round. Each year, Vince travels the Northwest visiting orchards and farms searching for the most striking and flavorful flowers, fruit and berries of the season. "I never know from year to year what kind of mead I will be making," he says. "In one year peaches are best; another year it might be cherries or pears. The fruit trees and berry bushes decide what will make the best mead of the year." Just as grape varietals manifest different characteristics, so do honey varietals. The composition of each honey is unique to the floral source from which it originates. In mead making, the mead taste is dictated by the honey varietals used. So understanding bees, and being somewhat of a honey connoisseur, is an important attribute for a Mead maker. For example, Fireweed honey produces a dry, clean mead with stone and mineral notes. Mead made from orange blossom honey on the other hand, has a very fragrant bouquet and carries through with orchard citrus tones. "Mead making combines the creative spontaneity of art and the quantitative predictability of science. It requires active involvement from both sides of the brain."