Libation of the Month: Royal Metheglin
Where to Find it: The Brimming Horn
Meadery 28615 Lewes Georgetown Highway, Milton; 664-1188
brimminghornmeadery.com
Delaware wineries and breweries aren’t the only local beverage businesses bringing home the gold. The Brimming Horn Meadery in Milton won first place for its Royal Metheglin at the 2021 National Honey Board Mead Crafters Competition.
Mead—a fermented beverage made with honey, water and yeast—dates back to ancient times. Indeed, some maintain that African tribes sipped mead up to 40,000 years ago, and Greeks drank honey and water to salute Aphrodite, making mead the “nectar of the gods.” Vikings celebrated battles—and just about anything else—with mead, while English newlyweds toasted their nuptials with mead on their “honeymoon.”
Not all honey wines are alike. For instance, Brimming Horn’s Royal Metheglin is flavored with honey, oranges and a secret blend of herbs and spices. According to meadery founder Jon Talkington, it was “once drunk by the kings and queens of old.” Hence the name. Earl Grey tea adds notes of sweet honey, savory herbs, sweet spices and light citrus.
Visit the meadery Thursday through Sunday when Hammer and Horns, a new food truck, is open. Then pair the award-winning mead with a Facemelter—melted raclette cheese on a baguette with prosciutto, cornichon, green onion and Dijon mustard—a fried turkey leg, or a Falafelhalla, a falafel appetizer or gyro.
