Mead is growing in popularity due to a new wave of brewers targeting a younger crowd. Meet producer Tom Gosnell
What does Norse mythology have in common with an industrial estate in London's Peckham? The answer is mead, the honey-flavoured drink believed to be one of the world's oldest alcoholic beverages. Archaeologists have found evidence of its presence in Chinese pottery dating from 7000 BCE and it's mentioned in the works of Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle and the Old English epic poem Beowulf. But can mead be marketed to a 21st-century crowd?
That's the mission of Tom Gosnell, who founded London's first and only meadery, Gosnells, in 2014. Although its mead is produced in Peckham, in 2022 the team opened their first taproom on the Bermondsey Beer Mile, joining the craft beer and cider brewers that make up the popular drinking trail.
"I'd always been interested in fermentation and making alcohol," says Gosnell. "I used to make cider and started getting interested in honey. Bees are amazing creatures that are important to all our ecosystems. I wanted to take that natural product and turn it into drink and that's where we started from."
In its simplest form, mead is made by fermenting honey and water to create a pale-yellow alcohol, sometimes with the addition of fruits or spices. Its alcohol content can range from around 3.5% ABV to more than 20% ABV and it can be still, carbonated or naturally sparkling.
Mead can take on different flavours depending on the diet of the bees producing the honey. Gosnell's core range is created using honey from an area full of orange blossom, which gives the drink a light, crisp citrus flavour at 5.5% ABV. Other varieties include a pink Hibiscus mead, made with European blossom honey packed with dried hibiscus flowers (4% ABV), and a Citrus Sea mead blended with lemon, tarragon and hops with a saltier finish (4% ABV).
The global mead market was worth $432m (£345m) in 2020 and is projected to grow to over $1.6b (£1.3b) in 2028, according to Fortune Business Insights. Gosnell says there is a rise in brands entering the space and he is keen to market mead as a modern, sustainable drink, rather than focusing on its history.
Sweet success
Since its opening last year, the Bermondsey tap room has helped the mead brand reach a wider, urban crowd.
"It gets absolutely packed [there] on a sunny day," says Gosnell. "It's been really good for us to broaden our audience a bit. We talk about bees and honey more than we talk about any of the negative historical connotations around Beowulf or Vikings. We're really far away from that. We're really proud of the liquid we make and want everyone to enjoy it and understand the link with the honey and the natural world."
The bid to broaden mead's appeal so far seems to have paid off. Gosnells is stocked in around 75 hospitality venues, including the Daisy Green Collection, Drake & Morgan and BrewDog. Some 70% of the sites, which are mostly in London, pour Gosnells on draught while the other 30% stock its cans.
Gosnell is passionate about sustainability and is keen for the business to remain ethical as it grows. The company is in the midst of an audit by B Corp, a non-profit which gives accreditation to businesses aiming to have a positive impact on people and the planet. This rigorous assessment of its environmental, social and governance policies is expected to take around 18 months and Gosnell hopes the meadery will gain certification by the end of the year.
"Something we are constantly working to is looking at how we reduce our [carbon] footprint as a business," he explains. "It's hard to make a specific claim against other products, but, compared to beer, [mead] is a lot less energy-intensive. You're not breaking down the grain to make sugar – the sugar is there in the honey. From that perspective, it's probably slightly more sustainable in terms of carbon footprint."
This sustainable ethos has extended into several of Gosnells' partnerships. For every pint of its Wild Flower Mead sold, the meadery donates 5p to support the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, a charity which works to protect bees and other pollinators from a decline in their numbers.
Fishy business
Over the summer, the Bermondsey taproom has been hosting crawfish boils, serving customers the invasive American signal crayfish by the bucket. These events have seen Gosnells team up with Bob Ring, also known as ‘Crayfish Bob', an expert who has a licence to harvest the species from UK waters to protect the indigenous population.
Gosnell admits his sustainable focus can sometimes clash with the company's commercial aims, but says the meadery tries to marry the two together.
"Recycling is a classic example, it makes good financial sense because it's cheaper than normal waste. Or making sure the lights are turned off and reducing our energy consumption because it saves us money. There are a lot of things that go hand in hand."
Gosnells is looking at securing investment to help it expand into more pubs and restaurants and has plans to open a second retail location next year.
"It's really important for us as a young company to build a good company that people want to work for and want to buy from," adds Gosnell. "We're definitely not making the world a worse place."
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