Drink Honey
Drink Honey: mead, honey wine and honey beverages
Honey may be behind humanity's oldest fermented drink. Today mead is having a revival, alongside honey sodas, switchels and teas. Here are the styles, what to look for, and how to find them.
Updated 2026-11-10 · Fact-checked against the sources listed at the end.
What is mead?
Mead is an alcoholic drink made by fermenting honey with water, often with fruit, spices or grains added. Chemical traces in 9,000-year-old pottery from Jiahu, China, point to a fermented drink of rice, honey and fruit, among the oldest known. Mead can be still or sparkling, dry or sweet, and ranges from beer strength to stronger than wine.
Styles of mead
| Style | What it is |
|---|---|
| Traditional (show) mead | Just honey, water and yeast; the honey's character leads |
| Session mead / hydromel | Lighter, lower alcohol, often sparkling |
| Sack mead | Rich, strong and usually sweet |
| Melomel | Made with fruit; berry melomels are popular |
| Cyser | Honey fermented with apple juice or cider |
| Pyment | Honey fermented with grapes or grape juice |
| Metheglin | Spiced or herbal mead (ginger, cinnamon, vanilla) |
| Braggot | A cross between mead and beer, made with malt |
| Acerglyn | Honey and maple syrup |
| Tej | Ethiopian honey wine, often flavored with gesho leaves |
| Midus & miód pitny | Traditional Lithuanian and Polish meads |
Honey drinks without alcohol
- Honey lemonade: make a "honey syrup" with equal parts honey and warm water so it mixes into cold drinks.
- Switchel: water, apple cider vinegar, ginger and honey; a traditional farmhand refresher.
- Honey-sweetened iced tea and honey ginger tea. Recipe →
- Jun: a fermented tea similar to kombucha, made with green tea and honey (it contains a small amount of alcohol).
- Honey sodas and sparkling honey waters are sold by a growing number of brands; check sugar per serving.
How to buy mead and honey drinks
- Visit a meadery. The number of meaderies in the U.S. has grown fast; many have tasting rooms and ship to states that allow it. The American Mead Makers Association lists members.
- Read the label: sweetness level, alcohol by volume, the honey varietal and any fruit or spices.
- Shipping alcohol is regulated by each state, and you must be 21 or older to buy it in the U.S.
- Homebrewing: U.S. federal law allows adults to make mead and wine at home for personal use, within limits, but state and local rules vary.
Frequently asked questions
What does mead taste like?
It depends on the honey and style. Traditional mead tastes of honey and flowers, from bone-dry to dessert-sweet; fruit and spiced meads add those flavors.
Is mead wine or beer?
Neither: mead is its own category, made by fermenting honey. Legally, many U.S. regulations treat it like wine. Braggot blends mead with beer.
Sources
- McGovern, P. E. et al. (2004), fermented beverages of pre- and proto-historic China, PNAS
- American Mead Makers Association, mead styles and meadery directory
- Beer Judge Certification Program, mead style guidelines
- U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), home production of wine and beer