Alright, so a bit of time has passed since I made my last mead. I clocked a few litres in at 11% ABV for the lot of them. I bottled a few and went through them, but took some samples and ran "tests" on them. One was bottled as is, and has been aging/sitting since. I haven't tested it since. Waiting for a moment to open it, really.
Another one was put in glass, and I did something to it. I don't know what, I can't remember. However, I bottled it today and took a tiny taste from the bit that didn't fit the bottle. It tasted...bland. Very very light in flavour and colour. Yes, the alcohol is there (it's lightly detectable), but it's bland. Don't get me wrong, it's far from bad, but I'm severely disappointed. I don't know what I did to it so it's not a train smash, but man, a bit of a bummer, really.
Last one I stabilized and after a few weeks I backsweetened it with a tiny bit of cranberry concentrate. I was worried I used a bit too much, but the bottle was placed way back in the pantry and left there. So over time I've seen the mead drop clear (almost crystal clear, to be honest) and I noticed a lot of the colour drop out of suspension as well. I started worrying about the content of the concentrate and went back to the manufacturer. Spoke to their technical side and was promised again - there's nothing other than pure cranberry concentrate and a tiny bit of Sorbate in the mix. So I guess the cranberry "powder" that was in there dropped out.
Anyway, I bottled it. Colour is FAR from the classic cranberry red, in fact it's closer to a light golden copper colour. Didn't think much about it. But then I tasted the leftover. Sweet mother of honeybees! This stuff is amazing! It's been in the larger bottle for about a year now, and it's simple astonishing! It's sweet, smooth and slightly warm in the throat (but in a good way). It may be a tiny bit too sweet, but I'm very happy with it. I think I'm going to be making a big batch once I can get my hands on some affordable honey. This stuff blew my mind, wow!