Mulled Mead vs Mulled Wine: What’s the Difference?
Mulled mead and mulled wine are both traditional winter drinks served warm with spices, but they are made from very different ingredients. Mulled wine is made from grape wine, while mulled mead is made from fermented honey. This gives mulled mead a softer, more floral and honeyed character, often with flavours shaped by the local flowers and forests the honey came from.
What Is Mulled Mead?
Mulled mead is mead that has been gently heated with spices such as cinnamon, cloves, orange peel, star anise, or ginger. The practice is ancient, with people warming and spicing fermented drinks for centuries during colder months particularly in colder climates such as Norther Europe where grapes didn’t grow but bees thrived.
Like mulled wine, mulled mead is usually served warm rather than hot, allowing the aromas and flavours to become more expressive.
Because mead is made from honey instead of grapes, the final drink has a very different flavour profile from traditional mulled wine. Mead often starts sweeter than wine and so doesn’t require added cane sugar common in mulled wine.
Mulled Mead vs Mulled Wine Flavour
The biggest difference between mulled mead and mulled wine is the base ingredient.
Mulled wine starts with grapes, tannins, acidity, and dark fruit flavours. Mulled mead starts with honey, bringing softer sweetness, floral notes, and a smoother finish.
Many commercial mulled wines also rely on added sugar to balance acidity and spice. Mead naturally contains honey-derived sweetness, which can create a rounder and more integrated flavour when warmed.
Mulled mead often tastes:
floral
honeyed
lightly herbal
smooth and warming
less acidic than mulled wine
Mulled wine is often:
fruit-forward
richer in tannin
sharper or more acidic
darker in flavour
Why Mead Has Been Served Warm for Centuries
Heating mead is not a modern invention. Warm mead has been enjoyed historically across many cultures, particularly during winter gatherings and colder seasons. It is still found at winter markets throughout Europe.
Spices, citrus, and honey all become more aromatic when warmed gently. This makes mulled mead especially suited to winter markets, fireside drinking, and slow social occasions.
The warming spices used in mulled mead are often similar to those found in mulled wine:
cinnamon
cloves
orange
nutmeg
ginger
The difference comes from how those spices interact with honey instead of grapes.
Mead Reflects Local Flora
One of the most unique aspects of mead is that it reflects the flowers the bees visited. Wine reflects vineyards and grape varietals. Mead reflects landscapes, forests, and flowering seasons.
This means mulled mead can carry flavours connected to specific regions and ecosystems.
In New Zealand, this can include:
mānuka honey
native bush honey
wildflower honey
seasonal floral sources
These honey varietals create flavour differences even before spices are added.
Is Mulled Mead Sweeter Than Mulled Wine?
Not always.
Some mulled meads are sweet, while others are semi-dry or lightly spiced. The perception of sweetness often comes from the honey character rather than added sugar.
Mulled wine recipes frequently add cane sugar or fruit sweetness during preparation. Mead already begins from fermented honey, creating a different balance between sweetness, spice, and warmth.
A New Zealand Take on an Ancient Winter Drink
Mulled mead combines one of the world’s oldest alcoholic drinks with local New Zealand honey and winter spice traditions. Undisturbed Mulled Manuka Mead comes bottled, pre-mulled ready to be heated at home and enjoyed when family and friends gather in winter.
While mulled wine remains the more familiar option, mulled mead offers a different experience - softer, floral, aromatic, and closely connected to the landscapes the honey came from.
For many people, it is also their first introduction to how diverse mead can be.
