WHAT IS IT?

Mead to be served warm with cinnamon and nutmeg, it is a change from mulled wine but remains very similar.  You can drink it cold but the flavours do not develop until the drink is warmed through.

THE FLAVOUR

Mead has a different taste to wine and the Christmas Mead has got an added hop flavour like beer, it is rich and strong tasting but does not taste elegant like mulled wine.  When you add cinnamon and nutmeg as it directs on the bottle then you will get a more festive flavour, I like to add some orange segments too.

WHAT I THINK

My husband bought this for me last Christmas because I was pregnant and the mulled wine I usually make was making me feel very sick.  I love to have a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie while I am wrapping presents and he did not want me to miss out on this tradition so bought me this for a change.  It did not make me feel sick and that was a shock because it is a lot heavier than mulled wine. It is not very sweet but tastes fruity so that gives it a natural sweet taste.

It doesn't take long to warm up in a saucepan and it is done over a low flame because you want to gently warm it, if the Christmas Mead boils the flavours will not develop properly and it gets a bit of a stale taste. If you heat it gently with spices they mix in with the whole drink and that tastes very much like a Christmas drink.

The Christmas Mead I drank had got 13% alcohol in it so I only had one glass whenever we served it, this year I am not pregnant and can drink a lot of it.  It gives me a terrible headache the next morning so I try to only drink it when my husband also wants some but even then I drink it very quickly so have more than I should.  We served it at a dinner party at the weekend to celebrate putting our Christmas tree up  and used 2 bottles between six people, that was just enough so 1 bottle between my husband and I is a lot.

ANYTHING ELSE

Lurgashall Christmas Mead is not available in many places.  I buy it from a local farm shop and it costs £10 a bottle, that is expensive but it is locally produced and of very high quality.

5 Dooyoo Stars.