Mead tasting notes: Some like it hot, but we love it cold

Our mead is about 1½ years old now. Most experts in the field say that the longer you let mead age, the smoother it will be. A minimum of 2 to 3 years is typical.

Erika Ehmsen sampling the mead.(Photo courtesy Spencer Toy, Sunset imaging specialist)

Over the past couple of weeks, we have broken open a few bottles of our stash to taste. We sampled the mead at room temperature; hot; and also cold. The nose was consistently fresh and lightly sweet, with notes of honey-menthol, but the flavor of the wine greatly varied at different temperatures.

At room temperature, the mead was tolerable, but not enjoyable.

When the mead was hot, we could really taste the sharpness of the alcohol and decided it would be even better mulled with spices, oranges, and amaretto.  Here’s the recipe we concocted.

At this week’s One-Block winter feast, we served it cold as an aperitif.  It was quite a nice way to finish off the rich meal. The mead was refreshing in the way a honey-menthol cough drop can be, but much lighter and not as sweet. Could this be a remedy for the common cold?

I don’t think the menthol flavor is going to disappear regardless of how long we let it age, because that’s just how that batch of honey tasted. We’re still hoping that with time, any alcohol sharpness will mellow.