Make Mead!

We all have had a time in our life, where we spent too much money on “drinks.” I’ve been a big fermenter for a while now. Nothing is good for the gut as something “living.” In Colorado Springs (with my very busy Frau Fowler life, I used to be living), I would always buy kombucha; now I make it. Ben was given a GT’s a few weeks ago by my mother who went down into Chattanooga and visited Whole Foods (and brought one back). Ben said he couldn’t even finish it, because the flavors were just too “fake and overwhelming!”

The choices for fermenting are fairly easy to do and are so rewarding! When I told my sister a while ago to make her own kombucha, she said “she didn’t trust it and didn’t want to get sick.” That also reminds me of the time I told my neighbor (with two young boys) to plant strawberries in her unused backyard and she said, ” I heard they were invasive.” I said, “I agree, fresh berries can be a real problem.”  Stop the dumb speak.

Almost every culture has an exotic fermented drink: banana wine in Africa, cabernet in France, mead if you’re a Viking , sake in Japan…the list is really long.

Let’s focus on MEAD today. It’s easy.

• 1 unit/part RAW unpasteurized honey
• 5 units clean water (non-chlorinated for sure)
• Add fruit at room temperature
• And/or add fresh clippings of flowers, herbs, nuts, even raisins, etc.
• Stir a few times a day.
• Leave in an open vessel (use a cheese cloth to allow air flow and to keep bugs out, or use a painter’s bag from the hardware store).
• In about a week- you have yourself a good beverage!

I typically let it sit open for 4 days.

Then I cap it and let it bubble with a fermentation top for 5 days, after I remove the flavorings (the plants, berries, etc).

You can also AGE IT, but that gets complicated.

You can go many directions and it allows for creativity, gut health and maybe social interactions since MEAD CIRCLES are real and take place all over this country.

Make sure to wear your horned helmet if you go.  Vikings love honey.