FYI – The following is provided solely as interesting information and is not required reading to make your Mead.
Different cultures and civilizations all over the world have made and drunk Mead for thousands of years, each one giving it a different name. Forest Scott, owner of the Mead Maker’s Page, has collected the following names of Mead and honey in various countries:
· Aguamiel – Spanish mead
· Balche – Mayan mind altering mead made with balche bark
· Chouchen – Breton (France) mead
· Hidromel – Portuguese mead
· Hydromel – French mead
· Idromele – Italian mead
· Med – Bulgarian and Ukranian
· Meddeglyn or myddyglyn – Welsh spiced mead
· Mede – Dutch mead
· Medovina – Czech and Slovak mead
· Medovukha – Russian mead
· Medu – Ancient? German mead
· Medus – Lithuanian and/or Latvian honey
· Meis – Eritrean mead
· Meodu – Old English word for mead
· Met – German mead
· Midus – Lithuanian mead
· Miòd – Polish mead
· Mjød – Danish and Norwegian mead
· Mjöd – Swedish mead
· Mõdu – Estonian honey beer
· Nabidh – Arabic mead
· Sima – Finnish mead
· T’ej – Ethiopian mead (since about 400 B.C.)
· Ydromeli – Greek mead
Honey Around the World:
· Ngarlu – Australian Aboriginal
· Tapli – Georgian (in the Caucasus)
· Mel – Welsh, Brazilian, (and others)
· Hunaja – Finnish
· Honig – German
· Honning – Norwegian
· Honung – Swedish
· Mjod – Russian
· Miel – Spanish
· Hatchi Mitzu – Japan
Here are some other names for mead that Vicky found in her researches:
· Madhu – in the Sanscrit Vedas
· Nectar or Ambrosia – in the Greek and Roman mythologies these were thought to have been possibly referring to mead, as honey was considered a ‘food of the gods’
· Alu – Prussian for mead
· Methe – Ancient Greek for mead
· Mede – Frisian, and Low German
· Metu or Mitu – Old High German
· Meth – German
· Melikatos – old Greek (morphed into hydromeli in present)
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- The NewBee Guide to Making Mead – Chapter 7: Planning - June 6, 2019
- The NewBee Guide to Making Mead – Appendix 9: How to Read a Hydrometer - June 7, 2009
- The NewBee Guide to Making Mead – Appendix 8: Sample Recipe - June 7, 2009