This week's blog actually has somewhat of a humorous backstory. My very good friend and OR nursing mentor, Katie Gordy came into Phoenix for a visit, all the way from Delaware. I had the biggest and bestest itinerary loop planned for us!! Including The Bodies Exhibit, Hot air balloons, hiking Devils Bridge in Sedona, Monument Valley, running on the Forest Gump Highway, [Hahaha.. isn't this is a hilarious notion!!?] Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, and the grand finale of The Grand Canyon.. with a few other things sprinkled in here and there.
We had a little time to kill on our first day, after we left Sedona and before we could check in to our Monument Valley lodgings. I said to myself... self, this is not a problem!! I'll just find us a place to do some wine tasting, and that will be the end of the “extra” time. I googled wine tasting near me and found a place that was pretty much on our way, making a stop in Flagstaff. GPS took us to some kind industrial park looking place, to a large tin building. Hmmm... I've been to some pretty strange looking places to taste wine, so I didn't really think twice about it.
We walked inside and there was a young lady behind a small counter who asked how she could help us. I said that we were here to do a wine tasting. She looked at me a little funny and said do you mean mead? [I don’t know if I ever even heard of mead] I said no, we'd like to taste wine. She told us that this was in fact a Meadery and they only served mead, but that is was the oldest form of wine. I guess I must have gotten my brain wires crossed when looking at the website since I did not pick up on it being a Meadery.. Katie and I looked at each other and said wine not!? [as you can see pictured above] “Cheers to doing whatever floats our boat!!” Hahaha
A little Mead history... it predates beer and wine with origins from the ancient civilizations of Africa, Asia, and Europe. It is believed to be the oldest alcoholic beverage in human history in all actuality, mead is not wine. However, it is often called honey wine and is compared to wine because of the way it is fermented. It is not made from grapes, instead its composition is water, honey, and yeast. It can also have different spices, fruits, grains, or hops added to flavor. Mead has a much lower alcohol content then wine or beer, ranging from 3.5% to a little over 20% and it can be carbonated, or naturally sparkling. There is a big misconception that all mead is sweet due to its honey base, but it can be dry or semi-sweet.
Drinking Horn Meadery was opened and is still operated by Evan and Kelly Czarnecki. Back in early 2015, Evan and Kelly were planning their wedding, and Evan wanted to make a special drink to commemorate their special day!! [Awww… how sweet is that!?] So, Evan was already brewing drinks at home, and he decided to make a large batch of mead for his wedding! He brewed around 30 gallons consisting of five different flavors that are still on the menu!! The wedding guests drank it all, leaving the beer in its bottle. Evan, who was a fish biologist, was looking for something new and this was all the encouragement he needed!! Drinking Horn Meadery idea was born!!
Now those of you who have never tasted [or even heard of] mead may be wondering how it is served for the best taste. The truth is, there is no single correct method, but here are some hints that may help you out if you find yourself in a mead drinking satiation. Here are a few tips on how to serve and drink mead for ultimate pleasure:
1. Serve mead at fridge temperature or poured over ice.
2. Serve mead warm on a cold day.
3. Drink mead straight from the bottle.
4. Serve mead in a classic whiskey or wine glass.
5. Pour your mead into a traditional drinking vessel. [either of the photos pictured below will do the trick!! LOL]
6. Smell the mead before you taste it.
7. Take small sips.
8. Accompany your mead with food.
9. Pour the correct serving size.
As you can see we were having a lot of fun, and I think that’s exactly what Evan and Kelly had in mind when they finally decided to open the microbrewery to the public. They decided to create only small batches and use locally sourced ingredients. [Evan had family members who were in the bee keeping arena] The goal was to honor and rediscover the roots of the earliest libations known to humankind!! I said "finally" above cause you see, when they first started on this journey, they planned to only produce and sell their mead wholesale. No taproom or online store, just mead production in the rather large warehouse they rented.
As fate would have it, only six months after opening, they were contacted by the production crew for Guy Fieri's new TV show “Guy's Family Road Trip.” They were asked to be a stop on the tour of their first season, episode1!! Wowsers, how can you refuse a request like this!? Evan and Kelly quickly put together a micro taproom [the one pictured here that Katie and I visited in 2018] but they soon realized that it was not large enough to accommodate all the interest in learning about and tasting Mead. Thus, the creation of Mead Hall began. Come visit to play board games with friends, learn a new skill, have silly and interesting conversations, plan a wedding, or just raise a horn of mead, skol!! [A greeting of warmth and camaraderie between drinkers.]
If they would have had that shirt [behind my head on the wall] "All you Mead is Love" in my size, I would be wearing it right now as I'm writing this blog!! Hahaha
Tune in next week as Wine with Wixy heads down to Old Town Scottsdale!!
Cheers to you my wine loving friends, and TTFN!!
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