Top 4 Things to Consider When Planning a Mead Tasting in 2025

March 22, 2025
Clear Skies Meadery

The community of mead lovers is growing, seeking a rich and authentic flavor that expresses both the quality of ingredients and the care that goes into selecting and brewing them. Mead production across the country has increased dramatically in recent years, with craft connoisseurs eager to expand their palates and enjoy the diversity of styles emerging (or re-emerging) in the world of honey wine. Whether you’re organizing a mead-tasting event for the first time or revisiting your plan, here’s what we at Clear Skies Meadery are doing in 2025 to ensure an exceptional experience.

4 things to keep in mind to ensure you arrange the perfect mead tasting:

Mead Selection and Sequence

The world of mead is a wide one, and the ideal mead tasting should explore a range of flavos and styles. Our go-to tasting menu includes one traditional mead, one session mead, one melomel (fruit mead), and one metheglin (mead with spices and herbs). We recommend including a range from dry to sweet and from light to full-bodied. Drier, lighter meads work best earlier in the tasting, as their complexities can easily be lost if one’s palate is already adjusted to bolder, fuller flavors.

Food Pairing

The art of mead and food pairing is one of complement and contrast, with the objective of creating a delicious experience greater than the sum of its parts. Many of the same principles of grape wine pairing also apply to mead. Mild and delicate flavors play well together, sweeter meads are beautifully balanced with intensely spicy or aromatic dishes, and acidic, fruit-forward meads can cut the fattiness of red meats and soft cheeses. Some of our favorite events at Clear Skies Meadery are our collaborations with Jill Sandler of The Chocolatier’s Palette, who crafts custom artisanal fudge meant to bring out the absolute best of our seasonal brews. Be on the lookout for the next one—they’re truly unforgettable!

Take It Slow!

A tasting event is about much more than trying as many things as possible. Suppose you’ve ever attended a beer or wine festival with unlimited sampling. In that case, you’ve probably experienced “palate fatigue,” the point at which the subtle differences between products start to get lost in a generic mish-mash of flavor. It’s exhausting work to give each new drink your full concentration, especially once the alcohol starts hitting your system! We believe the best way to truly experience our mead is to select a few that interest you and take your time with them—try sips with different bites of food, note new flavors as the meads open up and change temperature, and talk about what you’re experiencing with your company and your bartender. Your taste buds will thank you for it!

Get Educated
Each mead has its own story, from the historical precedents that inspired it, the ingredients selected for it, and the challenges and decision-making that went into its brewing process. Taking the time to explore these elements (through your own research or through conversations with our staff) will deepen your appreciation for what you’re tasting and is perhaps the best thing you can do to take your mead tasting to the next level.

Whether you’re interested in organizing a honey mead tasting with us at Clear Skies or at your own home, our staff is eager to make sure your event runs spectacularly. There’s no better way to celebrate honey wine’s rich history and bright future than to enjoy it with friends and loved ones. Visit the website and get the chance to taste the authentic flavors of honey meads.

Top 4 Things to Consider When Planning a Mead Tasting in 2025

4 things to keep in mind to ensure you arrange the perfect mead tasting:

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