Re: Commercial Mead
Well, I used to work for Stawski who imports those great Polish meads. He's still my father-in-law, but I started my own company around 9-11-01...not a good time to start a company but what the hey.?!
To the dismay of many folks worldwide, the Milejow meadery that brought us some of our best, including Wawel, Litewski, & Koronny decided that, after producing mead for a few hundred years, that they would concentrate on selling only honey, and eliminate the meads from their product line. Too bad I say. Such a long, incredible tradition chucked for the great dollar sign in the sky.
Not only that, but the producer that got us Jadwiga, which at the time was an average age of about 25 years old, is not labelled as a six year mead. Those of you who brew mead know how long something as viscous as honey requires to ferment & to lose that cloying sweetness, and how difficult it can be to retain the sweetness once fermented. People used to get uptight when I told them it retailed for about $30.00 per bottle, and I was able to explain that that averages about a dollar twenty-five per year or so, and then told them to find a 25 year old Scotch for the same price. Well, no longer. Jadwiga is still a Poltorak mead, but has been demoted to six-year status. Therefore, I snapped up the last few bottles of 25 year from the shelves of a local retailer I knew had some. When the good stuff is gone, I guess it's gone for good.
The good news is Stawski is getting some cool new (well, literally, old) meads for the States, among them is a Poltorak and a Dwojniak that are rumored to be excellent. They are in the traditional handmade crock decanters, which will definitely add to the cost of the product, but can you blame these producers who have carried on this tradition for up to 1000 years? Perhaps they should consider putting it in a plastic bottle with a screwcap? I think not.
All the best, and Slainte! Wassail and all.
Jordan Liebman, Simple Imports LLC
President
Well, I used to work for Stawski who imports those great Polish meads. He's still my father-in-law, but I started my own company around 9-11-01...not a good time to start a company but what the hey.?!
To the dismay of many folks worldwide, the Milejow meadery that brought us some of our best, including Wawel, Litewski, & Koronny decided that, after producing mead for a few hundred years, that they would concentrate on selling only honey, and eliminate the meads from their product line. Too bad I say. Such a long, incredible tradition chucked for the great dollar sign in the sky.
Not only that, but the producer that got us Jadwiga, which at the time was an average age of about 25 years old, is not labelled as a six year mead. Those of you who brew mead know how long something as viscous as honey requires to ferment & to lose that cloying sweetness, and how difficult it can be to retain the sweetness once fermented. People used to get uptight when I told them it retailed for about $30.00 per bottle, and I was able to explain that that averages about a dollar twenty-five per year or so, and then told them to find a 25 year old Scotch for the same price. Well, no longer. Jadwiga is still a Poltorak mead, but has been demoted to six-year status. Therefore, I snapped up the last few bottles of 25 year from the shelves of a local retailer I knew had some. When the good stuff is gone, I guess it's gone for good.
The good news is Stawski is getting some cool new (well, literally, old) meads for the States, among them is a Poltorak and a Dwojniak that are rumored to be excellent. They are in the traditional handmade crock decanters, which will definitely add to the cost of the product, but can you blame these producers who have carried on this tradition for up to 1000 years? Perhaps they should consider putting it in a plastic bottle with a screwcap? I think not.
All the best, and Slainte! Wassail and all.
Jordan Liebman, Simple Imports LLC
President
