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How do you drink your Mead?

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Norskersword

NewBee
Registered Member
May 19, 2004
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Just curious if anybody has any "mead drinking rituals". In other words, is there any sort of task that you notice you do while you drink your mead?

I havn't got a chance to fully enjoy my own mead, but I've bought 5 or 6 commercial meads in the past few months. Time spent drinking these for me usually consists of staying up late watching tv alone and drinking strait from the bottle. No wine glasses for me! (yet) I'm not an alcoholic, I swear! ;D

Anyway, I usually drink 2/3 of the bottle or so in one sitting. Surprisingly enough, I havn't even felt a buzz yet! I guess it's because I usually do this an hour or so after dinner.

Does anybody sit at their computer and drink mead while they are in this forum? I get the feeling Oskaar does. ;D
 

WikdWaze

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 2, 2004
600
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My first drink from my first batch will undoubtedly be from the handmade horn cup my brother has. It's only proper.
 

Norskersword

NewBee
Registered Member
May 19, 2004
683
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I bought a drinking horn a few years ago from a ren fair. Naturally I bought the biggest one, about 30 oz I think.

The vikings use to use big horns like mine kind of like beer bongs. During a party they would fill it with mead and see if they could chug down the whole thing without breathing. If one could do it he was pretty well thought of!

The next party I have I will have my own mead ready and I will use my horn.
 

WikdWaze

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 2, 2004
600
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Norskersword said:
I bought a drinking horn a few years ago from a ren fair. Naturally I bought the biggest one, about 30 oz I think.

The vikings use to use big horns like mine kind of like beer bongs. During a party they would fill it with mead and see if they could chug down the whole thing without breathing. If one could do it he was pretty well thought of!

The next party I have I will have my own mead ready and I will use my horn.
It should be illegal to drink mead any other way.
 

Norskersword

NewBee
Registered Member
May 19, 2004
683
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You mean in 30 oz drinking horns without breathing? The vikings often used wooden cups though. And let's not forget mazers!

No offense to anyone, but drinking from a wine glass has always seemed strange to me. I'm use to the image of mead being drunken as I described. As JMatiolli said in another post "mead has always been drunken in large quantities". I never get used to reading about mead in wine glasses. It just seems bizarre to me.
 

WikdWaze

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 2, 2004
600
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Norskersword said:
You mean in 30 oz drinking horns without breathing? The vikings often used wooden cups though. And let's not forget mazers!

No offense to anyone, but drinking from a wine glass has always seemed strange to me. I'm use to the image of mead being drunken as I described. As JMatiolli said in another post "mead has always been drunken in large quantities". I never get used to reading about mead in wine glasses. It just seems bizarre to me.
Well, breathing is allowed ;D

I agree, mead is supposed to be consumed "en masse", not sipped from a tiny little glass. That's like drinking beer from a shotglass.
 

Norskersword

NewBee
Registered Member
May 19, 2004
683
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No offense to anyone who drinks mead in this way! I may start doing it someday too. So at the risk of being a hipocret, I think I will drop it. ;D

Still wanting to hear from people and their "drinking rituals". In particular, I'm wanting to hear from Oskaar. I'm sure he has something interesting to say...
 

WikdWaze

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 2, 2004
600
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Norskersword said:
No offense to anyone who drinks mead in this way! I may start doing it someday too. So at the risk of being a hipocret, I think I will drop it. ;D

Still wanting to hear from people and their "drinking rituals". In particular, I'm wanting to hear from Oskaar. I'm sure he has something interesting to say...
I will never drink my braggot that way, but I do have a recipe in mind for a champagne substitute. When celebrating a classy affair, fancy glasses may be in order.
 

Derf

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 5, 2004
112
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I must disagree about drinking mead from wine glasses. My first batch turned out very much like a sweet white wine, so I don't see anything wrong with that presentation. Besides, wine glasses have been designed for the apreciation of fine drinks. In theory, even the shape of a wine glass should enhance the taste and smell of the wine. Admitedly, my senses aren't that sensitive, but do enjoy gloating over how clear my mead looks in a crystal glass.

I must admit though, a genuine drinking horn would be pretty awsome. In terms of interesting drinking vessels, I have some black crystal wine glasses. They look great (even if you can't see your mead through them) but unfortunatly they're tiny little things. The set originaly had some larger glasses but they've been broken long since. Also, my girlfriend always drinks mead out of a smoked glass chalice that has a dragon etched on the side of it. It doesn't look old or at all traditional, but it's still pretty cool.
 

Derf

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 5, 2004
112
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WikdWaze said:
I will never drink my braggot that way
Agreed. Braggot is too much like beer (he says hopefully, but never having actually tasted any as of yet) for the wine glass treatment. Haul out the steins!
 

WikdWaze

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 2, 2004
600
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0
Derf said:
Agreed. Braggot is too much like beer (he says hopefully, but never having actually tasted any as of yet) for the wine glass treatment. Haul out the steins!
May go really ancient and just hollow out a short section of a small log 8) Then again, may just drink it out of the plastic cup I got from the fast food joint.

Wine glasses have their place, just not with most of the recipes I have planned. I've always seen them as impractical anyhow. They don't hold enough liquid to wash down a meal, and they're very top-heavy making them easier to spill. For a toast or a small treat they're fine.

I have a recipe planned that will actually be best served in a coffe cup since it's designed to be served warm.
 

wildorchid

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 13, 2004
2
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0
I notice not many ladies post here. Mr. Norskersword turned me on to the idea of mead and I did try some store bought, but didn't care much for it. Maybe that was because I drank it out of a wine glass :)
I think I got chauncers and it was a little too sweet for my tastes. What store bought brands do you experts reccommend? Norskersword has yet to send me his own brew - although he promised he would.
Oh yeah, is there any special drinking instruments for a real lady? What would the viking queen have used? Maybe a delicate, intricately carved, pure ivory horn with gold inlay? Can I find one like that? That's what I want!
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
Administrator
Dec 26, 2004
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OK thou unbeliever! LOL

I generally drink from a Riedel Burgundy Grand Cru wineglass which holds 38 ounces of liquid.

I also have a Maxi-Bourdeaux which will hold 336 oz of your favorite mead! Try to take that sucker down the stairs!

When I'm feeling like a night of rapine and plunder I drink my mead from the stein pictured in the link below. My stein has a hammered finish so it is not the smooth looking model pictured. It will hold well over 32 oz of mead.

http://www.fellowshipfoundry.com/images/H060.jpg


In no case do I have to get up for a second bottle! I would assert that if you haven't evaluated mead in a wine glass you miss out on the subtleties of the mead and the different aromas, bouquets and complexities of the mead as it warms toward room temperature.

Just make sure to get a man sized wine glass, and you won't have to keep walking back and forth to the ice box with your little girlie-man port glasses!

Also, don't fool yourself into thinking that drinking mead from any glass is the same. The concentration of aromas, scents and bouquet all influence the flavour of what you are drinking. If you don't believe that then test it out yourself. Pour some mead into a water glass and then pour it into a wine glass (like a chardonnay or sauvignon blanc glass) and then take a whiff and a swig from the tumbler, then do the same with the wine glass. The difference will be pronounced.

I do like to drink mead while I work on my computers here in my office. I work from my office at home upstairs, and I two big picture windows in front of me so at night sometimes I'll just turn off the lights and watch the world go by while I read and post.

Sometimes I'll go downstairs to my smoking room (a small part of my garage) for a cigar. I have a laptop hooked up via wireless to my big server upstairs that has a bunch of MP3 files on it. I also have that laptop hooked into the stereo and televsion in one side of my gym/garage so I can serve up audio or video, or even check on the GotMead forums while I'm smoking my cigar. That way I don't get any smoke in the house, can "rock-out" and catch a good buzz from the mead and the cigar.

Hedonism, it's not just a job . . . it's an adventure!

Oskaar
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
Administrator
Dec 26, 2004
7,874
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The OC
Sheesh, no bowing allowed.

I'm a self-proclaimed hedonist. I love wine, women and song and I indulge myself to the fullest whenever I can. I love good food, good drink and neat stuff to drink it from! I just came from a jobsite earlier today that has me saying "I'm not worthy!" These people have their little slice of heaven all set! I'm happy with what I have, so I do everything I can to have a good time with my family, friends and anyone else who happens to wander in.

I come from a family of party animals from Eastern Europe, I'm first generation here, and I give thanks for what I have every day!

That being said! Time to get ready for tonight's festivities!

Best regards,

Oskaar
 
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Viking Brew Vessels - Authentic Drinking Horns