Sommelier Journal
- Thread starter ken_schramm
- Start date
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Great article Ken, thanks for sharing.
Hope all your endeavors are successful ones.
Happy and safe holiday blessings to you and yours.
-M-
Hope all your endeavors are successful ones.
Happy and safe holiday blessings to you and yours.
-M-
I would love some more expansion on the final quote “Yeah, I bet that didn’t go over real well. You remember back in the early 1990s, when microbrews were just coming onto the market? Well,” he concludes, “that’s exactly where mead is today.”
What exactly do you mean by that? Expense wise? Availability? Marketability? General population perception?
What exactly do you mean by that? Expense wise? Availability? Marketability? General population perception?
Me too. I'd love some more explanation on the last paragraph. I'm hoping it just means Mead is gonna blow up and I'm gonna become supercool overnight.
Don't worry GotMead, I don't forget where I come from!
Great Article, and worth a READ
Ken,
This is a fantastic article really. Most everything written about mead contains 4 pages of history, and 1 paragraph of tasting notes and a 'wait and see' comment by the editor at the bottom.
This article specifically sites examples of how mead is marketed potentially. 'Mead' for better or worse is associated with nothing. No one knows anything about it, and so any example that is not up to snuff is considered 'mead' and then no one tries it again.
The idea to sell stuff that says 'Gingersnap Cookie' and other more main-stream idea's (and sneaking the mead into it) has been successful (relatively) for me as well. Truly great article with good solid information and back-story.
Ian
Ken,
This is a fantastic article really. Most everything written about mead contains 4 pages of history, and 1 paragraph of tasting notes and a 'wait and see' comment by the editor at the bottom.
This article specifically sites examples of how mead is marketed potentially. 'Mead' for better or worse is associated with nothing. No one knows anything about it, and so any example that is not up to snuff is considered 'mead' and then no one tries it again.
The idea to sell stuff that says 'Gingersnap Cookie' and other more main-stream idea's (and sneaking the mead into it) has been successful (relatively) for me as well. Truly great article with good solid information and back-story.
Ian
The comment about mead and the craft beer industry intended to describe the potential for growth and improvement in quality that has occurred. I think we are at the front end of a big growth curve that will continue as more people like Timothy get familiar with mead, and make the effort to let meads go toe-to-toe with wines that they like. Great mead can compete. Consumer awareness is growing, and the market is obviously taking off. As the commercial producers get accustomed to scale, both in terms of the production methods and sourcing, quality will improve, just as it did for craft brewers. I had some "interesting" beers from breweries (that are now big and very solid) as they learned their chops.
The comment, "yeah, I bet that didn't go over very well" is somewhat out of context, but not totally. I reacted when I heard "Ireland." I think we all know the product I was referring to. That's not totally clear in the article (mea culpa), but all in all, I'm still very pleased.
Ken
The comment, "yeah, I bet that didn't go over very well" is somewhat out of context, but not totally. I reacted when I heard "Ireland." I think we all know the product I was referring to. That's not totally clear in the article (mea culpa), but all in all, I'm still very pleased.
Ken
Depends. I'm wondering how mead can possibly catch up to wine in popularity in the next 25 years even, simply from a honey supply perspective. Viticulture has had hundreds of years to ramp up production; can the bees keep up that kind of pace? Especially with all the scandals about cheap adulterated Chinese "honey"?
I think it's more a matter of market penetration than volume sold.
The craft beer industry is no where near the volume of good old American lagers, but you can at least get good crafted ale most places you get Bud and people know its there.
Honey certainly has the potential to keep pace with demand. Unlike vines or barley honey production is redundant over other Ag/conservation resources. In fact it is synergistic with existing Ag, to the point that honey is often a by-product of pollination.
The hard question is at what price the demand curve brings in enough production. Quality honey is still substantially produced by people who seem to do it mostly because the have a passion for it.
My biggest concerns are bee health issues continuing to limit production and that the price of honey needed to bring in new commercial producers will be around $5/lb.
The craft beer industry is no where near the volume of good old American lagers, but you can at least get good crafted ale most places you get Bud and people know its there.
Honey certainly has the potential to keep pace with demand. Unlike vines or barley honey production is redundant over other Ag/conservation resources. In fact it is synergistic with existing Ag, to the point that honey is often a by-product of pollination.
The hard question is at what price the demand curve brings in enough production. Quality honey is still substantially produced by people who seem to do it mostly because the have a passion for it.
My biggest concerns are bee health issues continuing to limit production and that the price of honey needed to bring in new commercial producers will be around $5/lb.
It was a good read and nice to see Kudo's come your way as well Ken!
Regards,
Tannin Boy
