Article about Mead in Slate Magazine

The great numbers in this hobby should never be underestimated. I think this guy probably tried to make his own and made vinegar instead. :laughing7: Anyway, the numbers of home brewers and commercial brewers that are here is staggering compaired to the way this person has interpreted it. I think he has missed the whole point here. All it takes is a small number slowly growing to put mead back on the map. Where there articles about mead 5 years ago? Not as many as there is now. Hence popularity is growing! :icon_thumright:

This is why I don't read Slate. They tend to dumb down their articles to appeal to the lowest common denominator. The writer probably knocked out this article in a half hour and was speaking in generalities, promoting preconceptions, and reciting worn out cliches! I certainly don't fit his profile, nor do my meads. Perhaps mead is too subtle for him and he's just accustomed to an acidic, overoaked, high alcohol California Cab in his Reidel stemware.

I cant figure out how to register on that site...... It has "washington post" somewhere in a URL though, so its just an attempt at scooping up a different groupd of readers, the group that doesnt read washington post, by the washington post. Im kind of annoyed, i suppose we all are. Oh well, all we can do is make better meads and spread the word, and taste.

Obviously Mr. Day has been deprived of good mead. Perhaps we should organize a care package for him to send him a few bottles of good quality mead.

Medsen

Medsen Fey said:

Obviously Mr. Day has been deprived of good mead. Perhaps we should organize a care package for him to send him a few bottles of good quality mead.

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It concerns me that the mead he bashes is Redstone's Mountain Honey Mead. I have to say that with the abundance of homemade meads in the area, the only commercial meads I have had are Amana Colonies Honey Wine (yech), Chaucer's (double yech) and Long Island's dry red raspberry (good but I prefer sweet).

But I read into the article that the author comes from what I would refer to as the "wine snob" circles where anything but a very expensive bottle of very dry, very acidic, very full bodied red wine is beneath contempt. Certainly the fact that Vicki calls herself Meadwench shows that Vicki isn't taking herself too seriously and the fact that the author finds fault in her doing so shows me that he is taking himself way too seriously.

A very large Ren Faire I attend sells hard cider under the name of Apple Mead for $ 4 or $5 for a 10 ounce plastic cup full. When I sampled a glass and commented that I couldn't identify the type of honey used, the girl selling it said "There is no honey in Apple Mead". It is things like this that will prevent mead from becoming significantly mainstream, not the fact that we do not develop hoity-toity social circles to promote our existence.

I see Magnus (oops another non-serious name) at Long Island (and I am sure the other meaderies are similar) introducing dry and sweet meads with a variety of flavors and honeys that are slowly expanding until there will be something for everyone. But I suppose Magnus' stuff is unworthy of consideration since it has roots in the SCA and Magnus has probably played D&D in the past. What a line of bullsh....

This last year at Pennsic, we had a keg of Heather Mead. I am not sure if Vicki got any or not but it was made from heather honey that had been imported (non-commercially) from Wales. The stuff was ghastly! It had a body more like a stale beer than a fine wine. It was notably different from anything our camp had ever served. About 1 in 5 or 6 people that I served it to loved it. The remainder disliked it for the same reasons I disliked it. BUT those that were knowledgeable were all in agreement that this is the way a heather mead should taste because it is the nature of heather honey. So the proper response for me is NOT to condemn ALL meads because I tried one glass of heather mead and didn't like it. But this is exactly what it sounds like the author did...

Time to end the rant... good thing that we all love our mead!
Pewter

We've gotta keep in mind that Day is a critic, not a journalist. He's not required to do any research in order to form his opinion; his cursory glance at a few websites allowed him to quote just enough from them to "sound" as if he knew what he was talking about to the general public.

Critics should always be read for exactly what they provide -- criticism. Unfortunately, one is not required to be analytical, or even informed, to be paid to be a critic.

Too bad. The mead industry (and the hobby) could benefit from published, informed critique. That would serve to get mead a wider visibility with the general public. Perhaps a better approach than blogging Day into oblivion would be to organize a tasting of better quality meads for one or more of the known and respected wine critics out there. If they're properly primed for the occasion (perhaps with the differences they should expect from mead relative to wine) by someone like Ken Schramm (respected in both circles), they'd be able to write balanced critiques of the sampled products.

Vicky, if you have the time to do it, I'd say go for it! I'm sure that it would sell, although it would be easier to market if it were from a regular contributor. Still, I'm sure this kind of info article would find a home in a publication out there somewhere.

What do you think about my idea for getting some mainstream beverage critics to do a mead tasting/eval for publication?

Hmm...

You know, there are a few pretty intensive industry type things that go on in my area, I am in the tri-valley (Livermore/Dublin/Pleasanton) and there are a few very well respected wineries in the area, that get shunted due to not being in the Napa Valley.

I am fairly certain that Wente Host's some small format gatherings for review/tasting. I can look into it if anyone is interested.

We would basically have to get folks to donate their finest for a sampling, I know my work is *nowhere* near ready for primetime, but I would be happy to help organise.

--L

Vicky - GM Founder said:

I think its a great idea, Wayne. Now if we can find someone mainstream that *isn't* a wine snob......that might be a trick. Ken is well known in our circle, but I don't know if a mainstream wine critic would work with him to do something like this. I'll have to drop him a line and see what he thinks......

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Ken would be one of our best go-to guys since he is not only recognized among mead circles, he is also very knowledgable about wine. He lives in both worlds and can speak both languages with authority. Oskaar, of course, is also well versed in these areas -- Ken and Oskaar would be a dynamite combo!

Sure, with the right approach mainstream wine people would consider mead. I was interviewed for a St. Patrick's day article on mead for the online version of Wine Spectator magazine some years back (I never did see if the article appeared in the newstand version) so the interest is definitely there.

AKueck said:

So I like to read Slate Magazine. Well, some of it. Today there is <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2184361/">this article</a> which talks about mead reemerging as a commercial beverage. Shoutouts to Rabbits Foot, Redstone, and GotMead notwhithstanding, the article left me quite disappointed because it seemed to want to prove that mead can not be a commercial beverage of any import. The "mead won't pair with food" and "honey lacks acidity" conclusions were bland overstatements, at best.

Perhaps we need to educate this writer more thoroughly...

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I just posted a lengthy reply in the discussion section for the article, citing my own research on the acidic properties of honey and mead, really working to emphasize why mead is *not* a honey wine.

Too bad so much of the tone of the article was smarmy. If the author had really tried, stayed away from bashing D&D and SCA folk, really rolled up his sleeves and did some good research, he could have written a fairly decent article.

I am going to put a slightly different spin on this to see what you all think.

The article is not all bad. True, he does insult the SCA/D&D people without reason. Also true that he critiques Mead in a negative way. But, he also brings Mead more to the attention of the reading public. Which means Mead is a growing libation that is being noticed. He even states "But the recent interest in fermented honey has morphed it from an esoteric item (edit thinly veiled insult on D&D players) to a small yet legitimate commercial enterprise." This means that, despite the negative review, he approves of Mead and is helping to make our passion a more mainstream drink; which is our goal.

Further on, he praises the homebrewing community for helping to grow the beer culture here in the US. Important to note in that section that he calls these people beer geeks whilst praising their influence on beer. Perhaps this is his style, to use sarcasm when approving of something. He then proceeds to detail what he thinks could be the causes for Mead not becoming equal to wine or beer in popularity, such as the link to the SCA or Vicky's use of the name MeadWench. In other words, Mead does not take itself seriously, so the rest of the world will not either. But, despite his somewhat snide take on our whimsical and joyful approach to our obsession, his underlying intent may be somewhat positive; i.e. he wants Mead to succeed, but has his own opinions why he thinks it is not doing so (editors note - I see more Mead in stores all the time, so I am not sure why he has this opinion).

His biggest mistake in the article is his lack of research in the making of Mead. I think I can pinpoint where he went wrong. He mentions The Joy of Homebrewing, which we all know has Mead recipes that were designed along the lines of beer and wine (e.g. acid additions at the front end). So, rather than research the topic properly, he read the book and took it from there. Also, as Vicky pointed out, he probably Googled Mead and read the article about cups, rather than delve deeper into the art of making Mead.

Finally, I think the biggest injustice he provides Mead is his personal review of the drink. But remember, this is his opinion. One that can be negated with a solid and well written review of the types of Mead available on the market. If Vicky, Oskaar, Ken, or even a fellow Patron can do this and have it printed in a reputable wine magazine, his article will be just another point of view that will help bring Mead more to the attention of the public.

Angus

Vicky and I are writing up a kind of response, but with an eye toward education folks. I'm going to refer back to food pairings here on Got Mead? as well as some other tibits of information that this critic really glossed over.

Cheers,

Oskaar

Check out Ken Schramm's reply -- brief, but very informative. It's a keeper!

http://fray.slate.com/discuss/forums/thread/916128.aspx?ArticleID=2184361

Oskaar wrote:

Oskaar said:

Vicky and I are writing up a kind of response, but with an eye toward education folks. I'm going to refer back to food pairings here on Got Mead? as well as some other tibits of information that this critic really glossed over.

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and Vickie replied:

Vicky - GM Founder said:

Yeah, you got your draft yet? Mail it over......I've got some stuff written up on the industry growth....

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How's this for a title -- "Mead: It's Not Just for Pagans." ;D ;D ;D