Let's make May-day's mead: a drink for happy mood!
Venla BevanHappy 1st of May!
Summer season is now officially started and may the celebrations begin! My home country of Finland holds many traditions related to this day, but I will spare you from these details, as not all of them are suitable for children…
However, something that IS suitable for even children, is this traditional may-day’s mead! It is more fizzy and less sweet compared to the heavy and thick mid-german mead. It is not so strongly alcoholic that kids could not drink it, and it is fun and exiting to make! (and yummy to drink ofcourse!)
Once you learn the process, you can easily modify the recipe, by adding in your own spices, or by replacing the honey with sugar and/or brown sugar.
Honey mead (finnish May-day style)
- 450g (1 lb) honey
- 4l (1 gallon) water
- 2 lemons
- live yeast
- a pinch of sugar
- raisins
You also need:
- A large pot
- filter cloth
- fennel
- large bottles or jars with adjustable lids
Bring the water to boil and turn off the heat. Mix the honey with water until melted and dissolved. Peel the grind off the lemon and squeeze out the juice. Add the grind and the juice into the pot of liquid.
Wait until the water is exactly hand-temperature – if you feel it is warm, it is too hot. Too hot water kills the yeast, but hand-temperature is perfect for it.
Add the live yeast. A small lump the size of about 2 peas is good amount. Stir until the yeast is dissolved. Then cover the pot and leave it to sit overnight. Watch, how the yeast begins to grow aroudn the lemon grinds – you can also drop a few lemon slices in if you want. Solid materia helps the yeast grow, so always use some solid spicing in the pot.
The next day, see how the surface fluid has become foamy, especially around the lemon peel. If it hasn’t, the water was too hot for the yeast, but you can still save the project by warming up the liquid again and adding live yeast again, - this time to cooler liquid.
Take a couple of bottles, and drop a few raisins and a pinch of sugar into them.
Filter and funnel the mead from the pot into the bottles.
Seal with a lid – but not too tight. The process causes a lot of pressure in the bottles, and it has to be able to vent out, else the bottles explode and make a mess.
Leave the bottles in room temperature for 3 days, or keep in fridge for about 5 days. The raisins in the bottles begin to go up and down, like a lava-lamp. When all of the raisins are set on top of the liquid, the mead is ready.
Chill and enjoy!
