If you don't like mead, you haven't had ours.
Mead Varieties
Mead is made with honey as the primary sugar during fermentation. Each honey variety presents an opportunity for new flavor and the addition of fruits and spices to make something totally unique and very delicious.
We make session style meads (4-6.5% ABV). We also make traditional meads (10-15% ABV). They range from dry to sweet. Some are carbonated, some are still.
Traditional meads are made from honey or a blend of honeys. Our special varietal meads are made with single-sourced honey such as California Orange Blossom or Star Thistle.
When it comes to Melomels (meads made with fruit), we offer a variety for you to enjoy, including blackberry, pomegranate, cherry and many more. We also make Pyments (meads made by combining honey with grapes) and our Orange Muscat is a crowd favorite.
Our award-winning Lavender Lemon Mead is a fantastic example of a Metheglin, a mead made with spices or herbs. These are fun and always delicious.
Hard Cider
Who doesn’t love a crisp, refreshing hard apple cider? We may be a Mead Company, but we also make a mean cider. In addition to our traditional Cider, people love our Caramel Apple Cider, which is made with caramelized honey. Our Blackberry Black Cherry Cider is also extremely popular. We love our traditional cider but love to create many different flavors with our cider as well.
Always Quality
We use locally-sourced California Orange Blossom honey for much of our mead. Made by bees who pollinate the orange orchards, it is highly prized by mead makers all over the world. We are passionate about sourcing as many local ingredients as possible, and we always choose the freshest, highest-quality ingredients available.
The first time Joy and Aaron Davis tried mead at the local Celtic Festival, it was love at first sip. At Joy’s suggestion, Aaron took up homebrewing mead and quickly added cider, beer, and eventually wine.
Mead was where they really struck gold. The Davis’ love for homebrewing meads led them to begin brewing more and sharing those with friends. Before long, Aaron and Joy were taking honey analysis and mead making courses through the U. C. Davis Honey and Pollination Center. They both became certified BJCP Mead Judges. And thus, the dream to open Nevada County's premier meadery was born.
While sharing the ferments of their labor with friends and colleagues, Michael DeSena got stuck on the Davis' honey wine. A seasoned homebrewer, mead maker, and contractor, Michael had the skills and business sense to take Nevada County Mead Company to the next level.
Our Philosophy
We embrace tradition and experimentation. Innovation is one of the key elements to Nevada County Mead Company's process. To us, making mead is both a labor of love and an art form, with an endless palette of flavors to play with.
We invite you to indulge with us in the magical delectation of mead. The bees will thank you later!
Mead is at Once Simple and Complex; Elemental, yet Infinitely Inspiring.
Nectar of the Gods
Mead making is a tradition as old as time, and historically predates other fermented beverages like beer and wine. The Greeks, Romans, Celts, Norse, Egyptians, and many other cultures throughout history consumed mead and references to the beverage are found throughout their mythology. Mead was called “Nectar of the Gods” by the Norse. The term Honeymoon derives from the historical practice of providing a newlywed couple with enough mead for the passing of one moon. Honey wine has entranced and intoxicated humans all over the world for millennia.
Today, the Mead Renaissance is blooming. We believe Mead is a celebration of life, and hope to bring this sense of joie de vivre to the forefront of Mead’s revival in the craft beverage industry.
Savor the Landscape
Mead reflects the flavor of the landscape, whether the terrain is dotted with fruit trees, herbal perennials, or wildflowers. As bees pollinate native plant species and local food crops, they collect flower nectar to bring back to the hive. The honey they make carries the unique aromatics of the regional flora, or terroir (ter’wär). Mead makers transform the honey into beautiful beverages.
Now open for bzz-ness! Come visit our tasting room.