Hydromel (Session Mead)

Hydromel — the everyday, low-strength tier of mead — is a light honey wine made from more water and less honey than a full-bodied traditional mead, and fermented to a modest, quaffable strength. The word is the ancient one: hydromel comes from the Greek for "water" and "honey" and was Pliny and Columella's term for honey-and-water drink, but in modern craft usage it names the session-strength category — a mead built for easy drinking rather than cellaring. Pale straw to light gold and often lightly sparkling, a hydromel typically runs from about 3.5 to 7.5 percent alcohol, close to the strength of a beer or a light table wine rather than the 12-to-18 percent of a strong traditional mead. It smells and tastes gently of honey and floral nectar over crisp orchard and citrus notes, finishing light, refreshing and often off-dry or dry. Served well chilled, still or spritzy, hydromel is the approachable face of a very old drink — the honey wine you can drink a whole glass of on a warm afternoon.

Balanced5.5% ABV

Pale straw to light gold and bright in the glass, a hydromel is the session-strength face of mead: a delicate floral-honey lift over crisp orchard and citrus notes, light in body and modest in alcohol at roughly 3.5 to 7.5 percent. It finishes dry to gently off-dry and is often lightly sparkling, reading as a honeyed cross between a light wine and a cider. Served well chilled and drunk young, it is prized for freshness rather than cellaring — an easy-drinking honey wine at home beside fresh cheeses and salads, grilled and roast poultry, charcuterie, seafood and light summery dishes where a strong sweet mead would overwhelm.