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Are you tired of cider and beer and would like to try something new? Something with a low alcohol volume, but very delicious and natural? Well, try honey mead! In this post, I will tell you a bit more about this forgotten drink as well as tell you where to try mead in London.
A couple of days ago, I had a chance to sit down and try a selection of delicious meads with the founder of the only meadery in London – Tom Gosnells. Tom founded his mead brand, Gosnells of London, after travelling to the US and realising that mead is produced and loved there, while in the UK, this delicious drink was kind of forgotten.
Since then, Gosnells of London grew a lot and is now sold in quite a few countries around the world including g South Korea and Singapore!
What is mead? Why is mead a great alternative to cider?
If you’re thinking that mead is something from the Game of Thrones, you’re right, they did drink mead quite a lot there.
Mead is a traditional honey-based drink. It’s made by blending honey with sugar, water and fermenting everything with yeast. If different meads taste different is because they are made of different honey. Also, some producers add different botanicals to their meads.
Mead is the oldest alcoholic beverage in the world. How come it was forgotten in the UK for almost 500 years? Well, first of all, it’s not cheap to make. Good honey is expensive and mead is all about honey. It also requires more work than beer or cider. Moreover, in the UK, the tax band for mead is higher than for beer, so it falls into the same category as wine. Hence, mead is not and can’t be cheap. Nowadays, people in the U.K. aren’t still very familiar with mead, but I hope it’s going to change soon!
In terms of calories, it’s usually a bit more than beer and less than cider. It can have from 4% to 20% alcohol, however, the one you can find in London ranges from 4% to 13%. As mead is made from honey, it possesses some of the benefits of honey.
Where to try mead in London?
Finally, let’s talk about mead in London. If you’re wondering, where you can try mead in London, you can order it online on Gosnells official website or just pop in your local Wholefoods and buy a can of Gosnells there. If you fancy a tasting, head to the first floor of the Coal Rooms in Peckham Rye – that’s where Gosnells have their lovely tasting room.
The tasting room is open from Wednesday to Saturday, from 5 pm until 10 pm on weekdays and from 12 pm to 10 pm on Saturday.
Gosnells make a lot of different meads – they have meads of the month produced in small batches and available during the tasting and sold through the website for a limited time.
They also have their popular meads in cans – these are their signature tastes. Having tried all of them, I would say that the “Sour” mead was my favourite.
Finally, you can buy their most popular “Gosnells of London” bottle of mead that would be great for any gathering or party.
This post was produced in collaboration with Gosnells, who kindly invited me to their mead tasting session!
I hope this post about mead as the best alternative to cider and beer was an interesting read for you and you know where to try mead in London now.
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