Mead is a noble type of sake. It is the most costly of all the purées in terms of ingredients. In the past, due to the limited production of honey, it has been a favorite of princes and nobles since ancient times. As early as 3000 years ago, during the Western Zhou Dynasty, mead was used as a court banquet wine. Empress Wuzetian has been drinking mead for 60 years, so she has maintained her youthful beauty! Mead is also a low alcohol health drink with the longest natural fermentation time, the most consistent performance, the most thorough absorption, and the fastest sobriety for both men and women.
So, how is mead processed? It is made from honey diluted with water and fermented naturally at low temperatures for a very long time (at least 2.5 years if the active substances in the honey are to be fully activated).
Honey contains very high levels of fructose and other sugars. The extremely high permeation pressure makes it difficult for microorganisms to multiply. Therefore, the high purity of honey makes it impossible for all bacteria to live in it, hence the existence of a honey that is 1,000 years old. (In 1913, American scientists found a bottle of honey from over 3000 years ago in an ancient Egyptian pyramid, but its quality had not changed.) The quality has not changed. Therefore, in order to ferment mead, the honey must be diluted with water to reduce its sugar concentration so that the yeast can multiply and begin fermentation under the proper osmotic pressure.
There are three types of mead to meet the needs of various people: mead made with a sugar content of less than 4% is called dry mead. If the sugar content is over 5%, it is made into a sweet pure mead. Between 4% and 5%, it is called mead semi-dry and pure.
Type of Production
Mead is actually a type of sake. In the broadest sense, mead is an alcoholic beverage made from honey. Based on the nearly 3000 year history of mead, there are three main types of mead.
1. Blended wine
Currently, this type is the most common in the market, and there are three types of mead production.
First, mead is selected as the base and some edible substances, spices or herbs are added to make a drink.
Secondly, mixed alcoholic beverages are made from honey and fermented with edible substances (mainly vegetables and fruits), spices or herbs.
Third, mead is made by fermenting honey and cooking alcohol. Its alcohol and sugar content is random and can be high or low. To reduce the cost of some products, some sweeteners, such as limited amounts of sweetener and discontinued sodium saccharin, are added to a small amount of honey to adjust the sweetness, and new flavors such as honey flavoring are added for flavoring. The internal quality of the product is poor.
2. Fermented distillate
Honey is used as raw material, diluted, fermented and distilled in liquid form to produce medium to high alcoholic beverages. Through distillation, although the accuracy of liquor has been greatly improved, but in the distillation process, the aroma, amino acids, trace elements of minerals and B vitamins of honey are greatly lost, and the flavor is relatively simple.
3. Honey low temperature fermented wine honey through natural fermentation, low temperature long-term aging from the low-alcoholic beverage. The main feature is that the mead produced by microbial fermentation has a pure honey flavor, with a moderate sweet and sour taste, which not only retains the nutrition of honey, but also increases the content of amino acids and vitamins due to the action of microorganisms, greatly improving its nutritional and health value. It is made from the nectar of more than 8,000 species of wild plants and wild herbs collected by wild bees and refined through two and a half years of low temperature fermentation. It fully retains the nutrients of thousands of plants and herbs. It is rich in 17 amino acids and over 40 trace elements and minerals, making it extremely potent!
