My first exposure to mead was in Britain. I'd tentatively tried local beers and ales, and found a few I'd liked. I'd also discovered I liked cider (but that's a different post). The mead though . . . I was at a faculty member's house, a medievalist, who pressed a glass of a lovely, golden colored fluid into my hand with a cheerful "Here. Try this. You'll like it, it's made from honey."
Now, in hindsight, "made from honey" should have made me think "mead," but honestly, I heard "honey" and thought "non alcoholic." Fortunately, I didn't even get mildly tipsy, but I might have. Mead is quite lovely, and you very much can tell that it's made from honey, but it is quite alcoholic, and it is mead's alcoholic nature that has made mead famous (and infamous) in myth and poetry song.
Mead in fact is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented honey and water. It may well be the first such beverage produced, in Europe, anyway. It pre-dates both beer and wine, and residue from mead has been found in B. C. E. burial goods all over Europe. The Modern English word mead is from Old English meodu, which is cognate with Old Germanic *medu, and Greek methu, "wine." Other related words include Sanskrit madhu (a neuter) "honey, sweet drink," ancient Greek Old Irish mid "mead," closely related to Old Welsh med, Welsh medd. Ultimately, they all go back to *Proto Indo-European *medhu. In both Irish and Norse myth, mead is closely associated with poetry and kingship; there is even an Irish queen whose name, Medb, means "she who intoxicates."
Mead is fermented, and is actually closer to wine than beer, though it's frequently sold in the same case with bottled beers and ciders. In general, mead has an alcohol content of somewhere between 10 and 15%. Mead is typically sweet, but there are very dry meads as well. There are a number of traditional mead varieties, but the three most common sorts are "still" mead, sparkling or naturally carbonated mead (the carbonation is a natural side effect of the fermentation), or metheglin (meddyglyn, in Welsh), a traditional Welsh mead-based drink that is flavored with herbs, or sweet spices. Other versions include mingling fruit juice with the honey and water, either before fermentation, or after (traditionally this would be called melomel). Braggot is a hybrid drink, made with both honey and malt. Cyser is mead made with the addition of apple or pear juice. However, despite the different varieties of mead made with additives, the greatest influence on mead in terms of flavor is the variety of honey used to make the mead; each honey imparts a unique flavor. The base honey really is the most important ingredient.
Washington state is exceedingly fortunate to have several meaderies. In Woodinville, Washington Adytum Cellars produces mead made from their own honey, under the direction of mead-maker Vince Carlson. Adytum produces a variety of meads, including traditional mead, as well as a number of fruited meads, including elderberry, apple, Ranier cherry, pear, plum, raspberry, and grape.
Honey Moon Cellars in Bellingham, Washington has a tasting room open to the public, and a small bistro. They produce a traditional mead, an apple cyser mead, and a blueberry mead.
Skyriver Mead in Sultan, Washington produces traditional meads in the form of a Sweet Mead, a Semi-Sweet Mead, and Dry mead. They are currently developing fruited meads, or melomel varieties. They have a tasting room and a retail store.
A good sweet mead is comparable to a late harvest Riesling, or a dessert wine in terms of the general sweetness, and in fact works well as a dessert wine replacement. The dryer meads go well with a variety of foods, though the traditional suggestion is to serve a dry or semi-sweet mead with asian cuisines, I feel quite certain that if mead worked well in the mead-halls of the Geats, which, according to Beowulf, it did, then why not enjoy mead with lighter fare and casual dining? Particularly if you server the mead chilled (though mulled mead is a traditional way to enjoy it as well). Traditional mead has very very low acid, since it's made from honey, so that it really does go with just about anything, once you decide between dry and sweet. Do keep in mind that it has a higher concentration of alcohol than the taste might lead you to think; it really is potent. As it says in Beowulf "Gæth eft se the mot to medo modig" (l. 604). (Go often to the assembly, to mead mighty").
For those curious about mead, and mead-producers outside of Washington, Chaucer's Mead, at the Bargetto Winery in California is quite easy to find. You'll find a small pouch of mulling spices tied to the bottle of the neck, though it's also enjoyable chilled. If you're curious about mead, spend some time on Got Mead the site all about mead, which even has a list of U. S. meaderies, as well as lists for the rest of the world. You might also think about visiting your local farmers' market this summer, and buying twelve or fifteen pounds of honey, and making your own mead.
*Bonus points if you know the song ;)