goblet, tankard or horn
- Thread starter calicojack
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Anyways, wine glass is the way to go, mead isn't really a swill it from a tankard kinda drink (unless it's a braggot). I wouldn't drink white wine from a tankard or tea cup, etc, same with mead for me. It's really not a tough-guy drink at all.
You will get totally crocked if you drink your mead out of a tankard.
Ah! but what a way to go?
A wonderful 19th. Century American Sterling Tankard with lid!!!
Maybe I'll ask Santa....I've been a good boy this year, Well I think I have anyway?>
TB
I prefer basically any tulip shaped glassware. The reason being that the shape helps to funnel the aromas directly into your nose when you go to drink. Just my .02
Yes, I started a thread on this topic a few weeks ago.
Myself, I prefer a sherry glass (an ISO glass would do fine too) for drinking a traditional mead, as I like mine slightly chilled. The sherry glass allows you to concentrate the smells in your nose, while the small amount of mead in the glass doesn't allow the mead to get too warm before you are done drinking it!
Anyway, I concur that any tulip-shaped glass should be fine.
Wassail!
Myself, I prefer a sherry glass (an ISO glass would do fine too) for drinking a traditional mead, as I like mine slightly chilled. The sherry glass allows you to concentrate the smells in your nose, while the small amount of mead in the glass doesn't allow the mead to get too warm before you are done drinking it!
Anyway, I concur that any tulip-shaped glass should be fine.
Wassail!
Lately I have been using a wooden goblet I made myself, but plan on making / using wooden tankards as soon as I get the tools for hollowing something that size. The goblet is pretty, but goes empty to often, is sometimes a long walk from the table back to the serving station.(plus a goblet just does not look right hanging from your belt.
how's the wood handling the various flavors? does it absorb at all? i had thought about this as well.
I do have a drinking gourd I made a long time ago (bought a dried gourd, cut the top off, used a bottle brush to get the seeds and any stringies out, then coated the whole inside with a few coats of beeswax), looks just fine hanging from the belt, I mostly don't use it often because I just don't trust the cork... but with the beeswax smell, it's very nice for mead.
I got my hands on a bunch of funny looking little gourds this year, they look like little green chthulus or something with tentacles, if I can get them to dry without going mouldy, I'm going to make drinking cups out of them.
I got my hands on a bunch of funny looking little gourds this year, they look like little green chthulus or something with tentacles, if I can get them to dry without going mouldy, I'm going to make drinking cups out of them.
That description sounds either awesome or awesomely evil. Either way...
Mostly we drink mead or any liquid out of whatever is clean at the moment. A wine glass is most common for mead, but anything will do. Coffee mugs are nice, they come with handles.
Depends on my mood! ;-)
If I am tasting and serious about determining the quality, a small brandy snifter that holds about 2-3 ounces works best.
If I am just drinking with friends, I use a horn. I don't seem to have any good pictures of it. This URL has a couple pictures. http://www.trubs.org/photo-gallery/category/67-june-2010-britt-and-heathers.html I am in the hawaiin shirt in the back. Horn gets lost in the shirt.
If I am at Beer/Mead camp, then it is the communal horn. This is the mead horn virgin initiation ceremony. This is not me. My initiation was before camera's were invented. There are no pictures of me drinking from it.
If I am looking to have a really good time, I break out the BIG horn! ;D Darn ... I only have it as a picture on my computer. Need to stick it on a web page somewhere. MaybeI'll follow up later with it. It holds at least 3 liters!
I am at home, I have been known to open the keg tap and just pour into my mouth. Don't need no stinkin' glass!
I have been eyeballing wooden cups. Still haven't broken down and gotten one yet. Too many other things to drink out of already.
If I am tasting and serious about determining the quality, a small brandy snifter that holds about 2-3 ounces works best.
If I am just drinking with friends, I use a horn. I don't seem to have any good pictures of it. This URL has a couple pictures. http://www.trubs.org/photo-gallery/category/67-june-2010-britt-and-heathers.html I am in the hawaiin shirt in the back. Horn gets lost in the shirt.
If I am at Beer/Mead camp, then it is the communal horn. This is the mead horn virgin initiation ceremony. This is not me. My initiation was before camera's were invented. There are no pictures of me drinking from it.
If I am looking to have a really good time, I break out the BIG horn! ;D Darn ... I only have it as a picture on my computer. Need to stick it on a web page somewhere. MaybeI'll follow up later with it. It holds at least 3 liters!
I am at home, I have been known to open the keg tap and just pour into my mouth. Don't need no stinkin' glass!
I have been eyeballing wooden cups. Still haven't broken down and gotten one yet. Too many other things to drink out of already.
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You could try making a traditional mazer - picture a wide mouthed drinking "bowl" on a short, stubby base. These were some of the oldest ceremonial mead cups used in Northern Europe, and they can be made with matching lids (which were often ornamented with metallic filigree) for a really cool, elegant presentation. BTW - any tight grained wood (rock maple comes to mind) would be fine for use as mazer stock material, although turning a block of hard maple down to a relatively thin body wall thickness without chipping or cracking it can be a challenge.
And these traditional wooden drinking cups were often prepared for use by rubbing beeswax or other natural finishing materials into the wood, then polishing with a clean piece of fabric or fur. They really do look cool, and you could add significantly to your mead-geek rating by making and using one to quaff your own homemade product! ;D
I am not very convinced by wide-mouthed vessels, as they don't allow the concentration of the mead's bouquet. That's what the tulip-shaped glass is for. As mead has such a great bouquet, I think it is a waste to use wide-mouthed vessels.
In any case, I fully admit that the "atmosphere-enhancing" effect of drinking from horns, tankards, etc with friends might overcome the technical issue of the bouquet....It is a tradeoff
In any case, I fully admit that the "atmosphere-enhancing" effect of drinking from horns, tankards, etc with friends might overcome the technical issue of the bouquet....It is a tradeoff
Personally, I agree with you, tycoon, but in the interests of historical completeness I thought I'd mention the mazer - and that is also why I personally don't like to refer to meadmakers as mazers. I am not a shallow wooden drinking vessel, although I have in the past been accused of being shallow and/or wooden at times.... ;D
let me preference my forth coming statement with this:
i've yet to taste mead. there's no place in my town to get it, hence the reason i'm making it.
that being said. the reason i took an interest in it is because of the vikings. therefore i guess i should consider myself a traditionalist. and "smelling" the mead as i drink it, no offense, seems a tad girly/yuppy.
i've yet to taste mead. there's no place in my town to get it, hence the reason i'm making it.
that being said. the reason i took an interest in it is because of the vikings. therefore i guess i should consider myself a traditionalist. and "smelling" the mead as i drink it, no offense, seems a tad girly/yuppy.
Well, calicojack, if you are not interested in the bouquet of mead (or wine) I guess that there's no point in your investing in some Riedel, Spiegelau, etc fine lead crystal glasses.... I have spent quite a few quid on those over the years.
Myself, I am quite interested in the bouquet of my mead, as I think the "nose" of a wine makes an important part of the equation. I have only been brewing for less than a year, but the bouquet of the traditional mead batches I have made has been an important element in my motivation to keep brewing and learning. And having said that, I think I will start a thread about the bouquet of mead.
Wassail!
Myself, I am quite interested in the bouquet of my mead, as I think the "nose" of a wine makes an important part of the equation. I have only been brewing for less than a year, but the bouquet of the traditional mead batches I have made has been an important element in my motivation to keep brewing and learning. And having said that, I think I will start a thread about the bouquet of mead.
Wassail!
