How Do You Drink Mead?

There is no single way to drink mead. Mead can range from light and refreshing through to rich, strong drinks that are closer to port or whisky in how they are served.

How you drink it depends on the style of mead in the bottle.

Should mead be served chilled?

Some meads are best chilled, while others are better at room temperature or over ice.

Lighter meads are often served in much the same way as white wine. Chilling them makes for a refreshing drink and can give the mead a crisp, clean character.

Richer and stronger meads can be treated quite differently. A complex sipping mead may be served at room temperature or over ice, while a rich, sweet mead can be poured in smaller servings much like a port.

If you're trying a bottle for the first time, the serving recommendation from the mead maker is a good place to start.

What glass should you use for mead?

Again, it depends on the mead.

A wine-style mead works perfectly well in a wine glass. A stronger sipping mead can go into a whisky glass or tumbler, while a rich dessert-style mead can be served in a smaller port or dessert-wine glass.

You don't need specialist mead glassware.

The strength of the mead is worth paying attention to. A lighter mead may suit a normal wine-sized pour, while a stronger mead is generally better enjoyed in a smaller serving.

Can you drink mead over ice?

Absolutely.

Ice works particularly well with stronger meads designed for sipping. Apart from chilling the drink, the small amount of dilution as the ice melts can open up different flavours and aromas.

There is nothing wrong with experimenting. Try the mead neat, chilled or over ice and see which you prefer.

Can you drink mead with food?

Mead can be enjoyed with food just as you would enjoy wine, beer or cider.

There are plenty of detailed guides to matching particular styles of mead with particular foods. We don't tend to get too hung up on it. If you've got good food and a mead you enjoy, you're already most of the way there.

One particularly easy combination is mead and a good cheese platter. Different cheeses, fruit, nuts and other bits on the board give you plenty of flavours to try alongside the mead.

How we drink Undisturbed Mead

Our own meads cover several quite different drinking styles.

Forest Mead is served chilled and drunk much like a white wine. At 9% ABV, it's the lightest mead in our core range and works well as a refreshing glass rather than a heavy sipping drink.

Rhubarb Mead is also best chilled and served like a white wine or rosé. The rhubarb brings acidity and freshness alongside the honey, making it well suited to this style of drinking.

Kānuka Mead is a different proposition. We drink it more like a whisky: poured into a tumbler and served on the rocks. As the ice slowly melts, the drink changes in the glass and different parts of the kānuka honey character come through.

Mānuka Mead is closer to the experience of drinking a port. It is rich, sweet and full flavoured, so a smaller pour works well. It is a mead to sip rather than drink by the glassful.

These differences are part of what makes mead such a broad category. The ingredient that defines it is honey, not a particular strength, sweetness or way of drinking it.

What's the best way to drink mead for the first time?

Start with the serving recommendation on the bottle, then experiment.

If it's a lighter wine-style mead, chill it and pour a glass. If it's a stronger sipping mead, try a smaller amount neat or over ice. If it's a rich dessert-style mead, start with a small pour and take your time with it.

And if you've got some good cheese around, even better.