Here they are: The recipes below are transcribed from _The White House Cookbook_, a publication listing the recipes of White House chefs, possibly published in the late 1800's. There was no publishing date listed so I'm really not sure how old these recipes are.
I thought it was interesting that White House chefs were using an egg for a hydrometer as Digby did in the 1600's in England. Digby seems to have added the egg during the boil, while the White House chefs added the egg before the boil. The recipe doesn't say how much honey to use, which makes me wonder how much variance there was in these White House meads, or whether it was something that was known well enough to be assumed. The use of hops was used in the making of what was then termed "sack mead," and brandy added to wine seems to be a technique from this period thought to improve the finished product. The amount added was about one glass per gallon of wine.
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METHELIN, [sic] OR HONEY WINE
This is a very ancient and popular drink in the north of Europe. To some new honey, strained, add spring water; put a whole egg into it; boil this liquor till the egg swims above the liquor; strain, pour it into a cask. To every fifteen gallons add two ounces of white Jamaica ginger, bruised, one ounce of cloves and mace, one and a half ounces of cinnamon, all bruised together, and tied up in a muslin bag; accelerate the fermentation with yeast; when worked sufficiently, bung up; in six weeks draw off into bottles.
Another Mead. -- Boil the combs, from which the honey has been drained, with sufficient water to make a tolerably sweet liquor; ferment this with yeast, and proceed as per previous formula.
Sack Mead is made by adding a handful of hops and sufficient brandy to the comb liquor.
SASSAFRAS MEAD
Mix gradually with two quarts of boiling water three pounds and a half of the best brown sugar, a pint and a half of good West India molasses, and a quarter of a pound of tartaric acid. Stir it well, and when cool, strain it into a large jug or pan, then mix in a teaspoonful (not more) of essence of sassafras. Transfer it to clean bottles, (it will fill about half a dozen,) cork it tightly, and keep it in a cool place. It will be fit for use next day. Put into a box or boxes a quarter of a pound of carbonante of soda, to use with it. To prepare a glass of sassafras mead for drinking, put a large tablespoon of the mead into a half tumbler full of ice-water, stir into it a half teaspoonful of the soda, and it will immediately foam up to the top.
Sassafras mead will be found a cheap, wholesome, and pleasant beverage for warm weather. The essence of sassafras, tartaric acid and carbonate of soda, can, of course, all be obtained at the druggist's.