Before you read this article, you could pair it with the song "Voices Of Spring Waltz". Since beekeepers usually harvest their honey in spring, I hope with the song of spring you could imagine yourself in Spring, the season with full of lives. And take yourself out of the busy life.
Start by the ingredient - saliva of a lone star
Since Ancient Greece, honey is hailed as a gift from haven given by gods. The holy honey is considered a symbol of immortality. In Greek mythology, honey is the gods' staple food. And the Zeus is raised by honey. There was a writer in Ancient Greece named Plutarch called honey as "saliva of a lone star".
Honey is not only in West history. In the East, there was a famous poet called Su Dongpo (蘇東坡) who really like to make his own homebrew mead. When he was exiled by his king, homebrewing became his hobby and lifestyle. To find the best recipe of mead, he traveled everywhere. And finally, he found a monk who owned the secret recipe - the best mead recipe.
The holy honey
According to the Bible, God told Moses he will lead Hebrew to leave Egypt and head to a land flowing with milk and honey which is Canaan. Canaan is now known as Israel. The honey here has a deeper meaning. Honey is correlated with plants and living creatures. Without flowers, we wouldn't have honey. Without bees, we wouldn't have honey. We must have flowers and bees to have honey. So God wants us to understand and appreciate the beauty & sweet of life and earth.
While there is a tradition in Jewish families called honey Bible. Jewish parents want to cultivate their kids the reading habit, they drop honey on the Bible. By doing so to teach and hope their kids understand learning is important and knowledge is sweet. Passing the faith, wisdom, value, connection, and business from the previous generation to the next generation is very important to Jewish families.
The first Intoxication
It is said that mead (aka honey wine) is the first alcoholic drink human have ever drunk. To make your homebrewing mead is simple. All you need is honey, yeast, and water. From Ancient to Early Middle Ages, the top 2 popular drinks are mead and beer. There is also been said that honey could cure urticaria or tinea corporis and it is recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica (本草綱目).
Honeymoon is originally from honey wine. At the Early Middle Ages, newlyweds have to stay at home for a month and wife will homebrew mead for her husband. They believe mead could strength the body and bring them a healthy baby.
While the ancient Indian treat mead as a method to release the power of the brain and bring people from hell to haven. In Tanzania, there is a tribe called Ladoga. They always have mead in every ceremony.
The meaning of homebrewing
At all times and in all countries, we all have different reasons to homebrew our own drinks. When the time passes by, we believe homebrewing is about "experience" and "relationship".
The taste, the smell, and the look bring food the flavor and endow your memory emotion. I still remembered my grandma's house has a hint of old book smell and we used to homebrew together. Now every time when I smell the old book smell, it recalls my grandma and brings back the memory. Do you have that kind of experience that something could trigger your memory?
Homebrewing is not just about the result. It also involves experience. Why did my grandma want to homebrew with me? Is because she wanted to spend more time with her grandson and share with me her knowledge & what she known?
The golden mead recipe
Homebrewing mead is simple. All you need is natural honey, yeast, and water. Mead works well as Aperitif or after dinner digestif. Or you could have a glass of mead before you sleep.
So what is golden mead recipe? We think the best recipe comes from you. Other people could give you guidance or a reference but you are the one who could understand yourself. Everyone is unique. It is impossible that one recipe works for everyone.
Comparing to the traditional homebrewing method, ALCHEMA provides you a basic recipe to start with. Our mead recipe tastes somewhere between icewine and champaign. The mead has 5% ABV and 12 Brix which is very easy to drink. After trying this recipe, you could adjust the alcohol content or sweetness with ALCHEMA to your preference.
If you want to try this recipe, just put honey (21 oz), water, and yeast into ALCHEMA machine. Our App will notify you when it is ready to drink.
So what are you making with ALCHEMA today? Are you making this drink for your loved one? or you just want to spend time with her/him?
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