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Before becoming an Okie, my dear friend Jerry and I had an annual tradition of attending the Ohio Renaissance Festival, particularly during their pirate-themed weekend. Just two buccaneers in full pirate regalia, plundering about. If you haven't stepped into the magical realm of a Renaissance Fair, trust me, you're missing out on something truly enchanting. And when you finally make it there, you MUST treat yourself to a colossal turkey leg (rumor has it, it might be ostrich meat), and if you're a fellow enthusiast for spirits like myself a hearty mug of mead is an absolute must.
Mead, often dubbed as 'honey wine,' is made from a simple trio of ingredients: fermented honey, water, and yeast. This age-old drink proudly claims the spot as the first alcoholic beverage ever enjoyed by humans, going back nearly three thousand years before wine.
Mead originated in Africa where early people accidentally fermented honey, likely in hollowed-out trees mixing with water and wild yeast. As civilizations spread, different cultures added their own twists to mead-making. The Ancient Greeks saw mead as a gift from the gods, a belief shared by many other societies. The term "honeymoon" comes from the custom of giving newlyweds honey wine to ensure a happy marriage. While mead production declined when other wines became cheaper, it's making a comeback today, appealing to modern tastes and becoming a fast-growing part of the drinks industry, blending old traditions with new ideas.
At the Renaissance Fair, you can always enjoy a cider with a delicious mead float on top but there are also a few cocktails out there that feature this honey-made wine as a key ingredient. One such cocktail is the Ransom Note Martini, originating from the Gramercy Tavern in New York City, serving as the perfect drink to welcome the arrival of longer days. And if the enticing spring sunshine beckons you to embark on adventures of looting, plundering, pillaging, and revelry, I urge you to grab a bottle of mead, batten down the hatches, and set course for a place where the weather's always just right and the honey wine flows like pure molten gold!
Ransom Note Martini Recipe:
1 ½ oz Gin
¾ oz Mead
½ oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Honey Syrup
Combine gin, mead, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and honey syrup (prepared with equal parts honey and hot water) in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well to chill. Strain the mixture into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a lemon slice.
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