If you asked for mead from your local grocery store or restaurant, don’t be surprised if you’re met with a blank stare or feel disappointed if you’re served one with a taste that might not be like anything you’ve had before. Mead is an alcoholic drink that very few people are familiar with, although it doesn’t lack for fans and enthusiasts.

Mead is neither beer nor wine and probably the only brewery on Long Island where you can go to enjoy it is in Long Island Meadery, a small company that has been brewing mead since they first learned of this drink at a medieval recreationist event. They were so impressed with the drink that they decided to brew it themselves.

A Brief History of Long Island Meadery
Long Island Meadery is operated by Paul Holm and started out as a home-kitchen brewery. As the production and demand increased, the owners decided to extend its line beyond the kitchen and produce commercial mead, under the name Long Island Meadery which is under the management of Medieval Brews. The company was incorporated in June 2000 and opened for retail in November 2004.

If you’re not familiar with mead, here is some information about this very old alcoholic beverage:

Mead is the term used for any alcoholic drink that is made from fermented honey, hence its other name, honeywine. It can either be traditional or flavored with herbs, fruits, vegetables and spices. The great thing about mead is that it can be customized to the imagination and taste of the brewer.

Mead was one of the earliest alcoholic beverages ever produced, with its history going back to more than 8,000 years, although it’s largely undocumented. The most popular alcohol then was grape wine which was especially common in the southern climates but up north, where grapes were not available, brewers used honey instead.

Most people’s first impression of mead is that it is too sweet and indeed, it can be since it is made from the fermented honey. But brewer’s can opt to produce mead that is not too sweet at all and in fact, it can be paired with different flavors to produce one unique taste.

Tasting
Long Island Meadery offers free tasting at special events. To know where the next tasting event is, visit their website at Long Island Meadery (22 hits).

‘Ask for Mead’
To drum up more interest in this interesting drink that’s a class all its own, Long Island Meadery’s website features an ‘Ask for Mead’ campaign on its home page, where visitors are encouraged to ask for mead beverages in stores, bars and restaurants to increase demand and availability of this drink.

Mead Products
Long Island Meadery offers mead in different flavors: Peach Mead, Strawberry Mead, Peach/Apricot, Strawberry/Raspberry Mead, Black Raspberry Mead, Red Raspberry Mead, Pineapple Mead, Root Beer Mead with buckwheat honey and Traditional Mead made of 100% clover honey.

Two of their award-winning mead flavors are Apple Cyser (Gold Medal from the International Mead Festival) and Blueberry (Medal Winner from New York Food and Wine Classic). All mead flavors carry a hint of orange blossom and have an alcohol volume from 11 to 13%. 750mL bottles are priced from $12.50 to $14.

Is that sediment in my mead?
Don’t panic if you find particulates in your bottle of mead. This is caused either by continued fermentation or re-fermentation. Continued fermentation is when mead is bottled before fermentation has stopped. Re-fermentation can occur when fermentation stops and starts again after the bottling process.

If you find sediment in your mead, keep the mead cold in the refrigerator. The drop in temperature will halt the fermentation process. Mead also has more residual sugar which may appear as sediment at the bottom of the bottle. When it’s time to serve the mead, try to hold the sediments down while pouring off the top.

How to order
Long Island Meadery currently accepts orders only from New York residents. They are located at 1347 Lincoln Avenue, Suite 11 in Holbrook. For orders or more information, they can be phoned at 631-285-7469 or faxed at 631-472-7310. Case orders have a 10% discount and all orders are charged tax and shipping fees.

Online ordering is not yet available, but out-of-state orders may be arranged with their retailer, Lake Liquor.com (9 hits). Currently, their products are available in Pennsylvania. For more information and a look-see at their flavors and pricing, go to Long Island Meadery (22 hits).