Artesano Mead - Video Project Two + Story

Artesano Mead in Groton, Vermont

**************************See End Notes for references*******************************

Mark Simakaski demonstrates how he makes a new batch of mead at Artesano Mead.

Upon walking through Artesano's door, all of your senses are sparked with curiosity. Your nose smells what it would as if in a bakery, you hear the churning of the liquids inside the distant fermenting tanks, you look around as you have just entered into a quaint shop.

Artesano is located on 1334 Scott Highway in Groton, VT. Artesano prides itself in producing mead from locally gathered honey and fruits.

Mead is and alcoholic wine made fermented water and honey.

Mead is referenced in numerous mythological stories. Mead is mentioned in literary works such as: the Rigveda (meaning "Praise Knowledge" The Rigveda is a collection of sacred ancient Indian hymns, compiled into ten books and is also a part of Indian mythology dated between 1700–1100 BC (1) and Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon heroic epic poem dated between 8th and the early 11th century. (2)

On Artesano's website there is an interesting paragraph explain the ancestry relation of mead. It reads:

      "It's not hard to imagine our early ancestors discovering the entrance to a beehive in some ancient tree and becoming curious about the determination and speed which the workers sallied forth. Our innate drive to know more would have led us to the honey, the golden reward of the bees' labor." (3)

Check out their website for more interesting secrets of mead and all it's flavors: http://www.artesanomead.com/

Speaking of flavors, can you honestly find another brewing company that would ever consider mixing chilli and cinnamon flavors into an alcoholic beverage? That is the power of Artesano's Chili-Cinnamon flavored mead.

This flavor is available for you to offer at your wedding, and especially while on your honeymoon.

No pun intended.

Speaking of honeymoon's, on Artesano's there is this interesting factoid about the tradition of the term "honeymoon:"

"The term “honeymoon” is believed to have stemmed from the tradition of newlyweds drinking honey wine every day for one full moon after their wedding. Today, many weddings still include a traditional mead toast to the newlyweds as a fair tribute to times and well wishes of both old and new."

I will start writing my personal opinion bit, by first saying this... it was not on this shoot that I have tried Artesano's mead. I sampled their mead prior to this shoot, at the beginning of this year.

I have tried the traditional mead and their blueberry mead, and both are very tasty, and warm the soul very fast. But what I figured out is that you can't really think of it as drinking wine.

You just have to think about that you are just having mead. It is not really wine. It acts and smells like wine, but the taste is mead.

Try Artesano mead for yourself, and tell me what you think!


******************End Notes/References**************************************

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigveda

(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf

(3) http://www.artesanomead.com/about-mead/

(4) http://www.artesanomead.com/honeymoon/