The most ancient of alcoholic beverages has gotten a few modern-day updates for its annual holiday.
Aug. 1 is National Mead Day, and Columbus' Brothers Drake Meadery will celebrate with the release of three new versions with tastes of lemon, passion fruit and jalapeno, and peanut butter and jelly.
"National Mead Day is our favorite day of the year to celebrate what makes mead so special — its versatility," said Lisa Ferguson, general manager and co-meadmaker at the 19-year-old brewer and bar.
Brothers Drake, 1025 W. Third Ave., just north of Grandview Heights in the Fifth by Northwest neighborhood of Columbus, is open from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Aug. 1. Its new meads will be available, along with about 20 others, including its long-popular Apple Pie,
fermented with Ohio cider and spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.
Mead is a honey wine, fermented with honey, water and yeast. According to Wine Enthusiast, the earliest evidence of its creation dates back about 9,000 years. Brothers Drake meads are typically about 14% alcohol, and although the drinks are typically sweeter than other wines, the local meadery's selection includes varieties characterized as sweet, semi-sweet, off-dry and dry.
Owner Oron Benary said its flavored varieties are created with natural ingredients added during the fermentation process.
Hot Passion is the passion fruit-and-jalapeno mead making its debut for National Mead Day. The pepper adds a very subtle kick of heat that pairs well with the tart, tropical fruit> The result is a mead that's dry and spicy.
Purple Haze is summery and bright from lemon. Its pink-lemonade color comes from an extract of butterfly pea flowers.
Peanut Butter & Jelly is a returning flavor, deeper and sweeter than the others.
Follow Dispatch dining reporter Bob Vitale on Instagram at @dispatchdining. You can reach him directly at rvitale@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus' Brothers Drake debuts new flavors for National Mead Day
