Mead
Modern Ways to Enjoy Mead: Drinks, Pairings and Recipes
July 23, 2026
International Mead Day falls on the first Saturday of August, and it’s a date we’re quietly fond of here in Devon. We’ve been making mead for over fifteen years, more of it than anyone else in the UK, and in that time we’ve heard every assumption going: that it’s old, that it’s heavy, that it belongs in a history book rather than a fridge. The mead we make is none of those things. Served cold on a summer evening, lengthened with soda, stirred into a cocktail or cooked down into a sticky glaze for sausages, it might be the most versatile bottle in the house.
Mead’s modern moment
At its heart, mead couldn’t be simpler: honey, water and yeast, fermented with the same care we give our English wines. No grape varieties to learn, no vintages to keep track of. Just honey, and everything a patient fermentation can find in it.
What’s changed is the company it keeps. These days mead is at home on garden tables and picnic blankets: cold bottles, tall glasses, cheeseboards that keep getting topped up. We even make sparkling mead in cans now, alongside the classic 75cl bottles, which tells you something about the direction of travel. But the bottles remain the heart of it, and there are more of them than most people expect.
More than one style of mead
Traditional Mead is the one to know first: smooth and honeyed, easy to drink and easy to like, with a deep floral aroma and a moreish honeycomb finish. Westcountry Mead sits beside it, medium sweet with a soft spicy overtone, and just as happy at room temperature next to a strong cheese.
The fruit styles are usually where newcomers fall for it. Apple Mead layers bittersweet apple and toffee apple over the honey, Rhubarb Mead adds a tangy edge to keep things fresh, Black Cherry Mead balances honey with the sweet-tart depth of wild cherries, and Strawberry Mead tastes like June in a glass.
Then come the lighter, garden-inspired pair: Garden Mead, with its lovely fresh mint overtones, and Elderflower Mead, light and floral, both made for warm evenings outside.
At the warmer end of the family sit Ginger Mead, dark and sweet with a discreet hint of ginger, Chilli Mead, which pairs sweet honey with a proper chilli kick and loves food, Spiced Mead for gentler warmth, and Christmas Mead, which is happy to wait for December.
And then there’s Mead Liqueur, the indulgent one. Slower and richer, made for sipping after dinner, a splash in coffee, or pouring over good vanilla ice cream.
Modern ways to serve it
None of this needs equipment or ceremony. The simplest improvement is also the biggest: an hour in the fridge. Served cold, the sweetness tightens up, the aromatics lift, and fruit styles like Apple and Strawberry become properly refreshing. If mead has ever struck you as heavy, this is almost certainly the fix.
From there it’s a short step to ice. A tumbler, a couple of cubes, a slice of apple or a twist of lemon, and you’re done. Traditional Mead takes to it especially well.
Our favourite summer serve, and the one we pour most at the winery, is the Mead Spritz: chilled mead over plenty of ice, topped up with soda water and finished with a slice of lime or a sprig of rosemary. Light, aromatic and very hard to argue with on a hot afternoon. Apple Mead with soda and a few slices of fresh apple is a lovely place to start.
Mead earns its keep behind the bar too. It slots in wherever you’d usually reach for a sweet vermouth or a liqueur; Traditional Mead is happy in anything from a mojito to a negroni, and Black Cherry Mead makes a quietly wonderful Old Fashioned. The full recipes live in our best mead cocktails guide.
And yes, you can still warm it. Apple or Spiced Mead, heated gently and never boiled, is a comforting thing when the evenings turn.
What to eat with mead
Honey gets along with nearly everything: salt, spice, richness, cream. Which is why a bottle of mead is such a useful thing to have near food.
Cheese is the natural starting point. Fruit meads flatter soft, creamy cheeses like brie, the spiced and chilli styles hold their own against big cheddars and blues, and Traditional Mead will happily see a whole board through. Charcuterie works for the same reason, honeyed sweetness against salty cured meat, and a bottle of Apple Mead set down next to a board of both is about the easiest way there is to feed people well.
It doesn’t stop at the board. A glass with a little sweetness is exactly what a curry night or a plate of sticky ribs is asking for; try Ginger Mead there and see. And when pudding arrives, a fruit mead alongside pavlova or a berry crumble, or Mead Liqueur over ice cream, finishes things nicely.
Cooking with mead
This is the part people rarely see coming. Anywhere a recipe asks for wine or cider, mead can usually step in, and it tends to bring a little extra with it.
Reduced with mustard it becomes a glossy glaze for sausages, chicken thighs or a gammon. A splash in the pan after frying pork chops, bubbled down with a knob of butter, is a sauce in about a minute. With soy, garlic and ginger it makes a very good overnight marinade.
And it’s just as happy in puddings: pears poached in Spiced Mead, Black Cherry Mead stirred into a chocolate sauce, Elderflower Mead in a syrup for a drizzle cake.
Recipe:
Apple Mead Sticky Sausages
A proper one-pan supper: plump sausages roasted until golden, then glazed in a sticky Apple Mead sauce with mustard, thyme and a little cider vinegar to balance the sweetness. Serve with buttery mash, roasted roots or shredded savoy cabbage.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 8 good-quality pork sausages
- 1 red onion, cut into wedges
- 2 apples, cored and cut into wedges
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 sprigs thyme, plus extra to serve
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 150ml Lyme Bay Apple Mead
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- A knob of butter
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C / 180°C fan.
- Place the sausages, red onion wedges and apple slices in a roasting tin. Drizzle with olive oil, scatter over thyme and season with black pepper. Roast for 25 minutes, turning the sausages once, until they are browned and the apples soften.
- Meanwhile, mix the wholegrain mustard, Apple Mead, cider vinegar and Dijon mustard in a jug and season it well.
- Pour the mixture over the sausages and return the tin to the oven for 15–20 minutes, basting once or twice, until the glaze is glossy, sticky and reduced. Add a small knob of butter at the end and swirl it through the sauce for richness.
- Finish with a few extra thyme leaves and serve with creamy mashed potatoes, celeriac mash or roasted parsnips.
And the rest of the bottle takes care of your drink for the evening, chilled or lengthened with soda over ice.
Where to start if you're new to mead
If white wine is your usual, a fruit style such as Apple or Strawberry, served nicely cold, is a gentle way in. If you’d rather meet the real thing straight away, pour Traditional Mead over ice.
If you like a drink with a bit of character, Ginger or Chilli will keep things interesting. And if you’re buying for someone who seems to have tried everything, the Mead Liqueur tends to do the trick.
A mead for every season
One of the quiet pleasures of a range this broad is that it moves with the year. Summer wants the light, floral styles, Elderflower, Garden and Strawberry, served cold or built into a spritz.
Autumn belongs to Apple Mead, in the glass and in the roasting tin. Winter is when Spiced and Ginger come into their own, and when Christmas Mead finally gets its moment, warmed gently on a cold night.
Then spring comes back around and the brighter fruit styles suit the mood again, with Rhubarb leading the way.
Taste mead the modern way
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