What do you think of mead?

February 29, 2008 at 11:18 pm | Posted in food | 10 Comments

I like mead. I do. Well, ok, I like lots of different liqueurs, beer; I’ve even enjoyed red wine recently on a regular basis. But I’ve liked mead for a long time. For almost 20 years now, since shortly after I went to my first renaissance faire. (Thanks, Shannon.)

But mead has stuck with me. And I’ve found an excellent local brewer, Magpie. Yes, the name of the website is, “Legendary Magpie Mead.” Yes, he’s a little full of himself, but dammit, he’s right! His mead is just the best I’ve ever had. No qualifiers. No, “well, it’s hard to say since I’ve tasted so many meads in my lifetime.” No. It’s really just the best. And this is about 20 years after the newness of mead first entranced me. I’m no starry-eyed pup with virgin tastebuds. This stuff is the real deal. And if you guys who have known me long enough to say, “That’s a strong endorsement from the king of understatement,” consider that I just may still be understating how superior this mead is.

Ok, I’m done gushing.

Anyway, this all came up because of an article by Nicholas Day about the recent popularity (?) of mead. Ok, the local wine shop these days always has at least (at most?) one bottle of Chaucer’s, the Ernest & Julio Gallo of mead. His main point is that, though you can find it at many farmers markets alongside the beekeepers hawking their various exotic strains of honey, mead hasn’t earned a place on the dinner table. It’s just not acidic enough, he says. Well, perhaps. If I enjoy mead, it’s generally after dinner, perhaps with a non-chocolate dessert. I agree that I have yet to find a mead and a meal that I can honestly believe is a good pairing. But that is at least partly because I haven’t really looked.

I’ll tell you this, though … the first place I’d look is Magpie.