I’M always amazed at how much innovation is out there and happy that so much of it is in direct opposition to mass consumer products by soulless bland brands. That’s why I was in my element visiting so many local producers at the Newmilns Food Festival.
I live near Newmilns which is small East Ayrshire town so my expectations weren’t high. How wrong I was. The festival was outstanding and packed with engaged people and great Scottish produce.
Beehive Brae was a huge hit – a British collective of sustainable bee hives producing their own bees and mead. Yep, mead, that thing they drink on Game of Thrones when the Dornish wine dries up. The beer was great, clean tasting and super-easy drinking but the mead was sublime – sweet, heady and moreish. It sold out instantly.
You can’t get much better than a product made from sustainable natural ingredients, much of which comes from Scottish hives, that also gets you tipsy. And at 8%, it won’t take long.
I think this 40,000 year old drink tastes best in a 21st century cocktail. Plenty of honey is a great ingredient for cocktails but mead is a supercharged addition. Whereas with honey you should really mix it with hot water in equal parts to make a syrup, mead is instantly mixable.
Try something a little exotic and celebrate national honey week this month with a mead-a-colada. Using mead, spiced rum, coconut water and a few drops of orange bitters, shake up and pour over ice. I usually top with a splash of good soda water and serve with an obligatory pineapple slice.
Either way, a few too many and you will probably be seeing dragons and may resemble a white walker staggering towards the seven kingdoms. May the lord of light be with you.
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