Mead is brilliant on its own, but put it next to the right food and it becomes something else entirely. Honey wine has been the centrepiece of feasts for thousands of years, from Viking great halls to Anglo-Saxon banquets, and it turns out our ancestors were onto something.
Here's our guide to mead and food pairing: the basic rules, what to eat with each style, and how to build the ultimate Viking feast.
The golden rules of pairing mead with food
- Match the sweetness. With desserts, your mead should be at least as sweet as the food, or the mead will taste thin and sour. Sweet traditional meads can handle almost any pudding.
- Salty loves sweet. Just like port and Stilton, sweet mead and salty cheese are a match made in Valhalla. The honey rounds off the salt, and the salt makes the honey sing.
- Richness needs a partner. Fatty, rich foods like roast pork, duck and slow-cooked meat work beautifully with fuller, sweeter meads, which cut through and refresh.
- Spice with spice, or cool it down. A spiced or chilli mead can stand up to warming flavours, while a lighter, chilled mead can calm down a hot dish.
Mead and food pairings by style
Traditional mead
Sweet, rich and full of honey. Lyme Bay's Traditional Mead is a great accompaniment to strong cheeses and full-flavoured casseroles. Try traditional meads with mature Cheddar, honey-glazed ham, roast pork, or a simple plate of oatcakes and blue cheese.
Spiced mead
Warm, festive and made for winter. Lindisfarne Spiced Mead comes alive when gently warmed. Pair spiced meads with Christmas pudding, mince pies, gingerbread, or a roast with all the trimmings.
Fruit mead
Fruit meads (melomels, if you want to impress someone) balance sweetness with tartness. Black Cherry Mead and Hive Mind's Dark Cherry are superb with dark chocolate, duck, and cheesecake. Tangy Rhubarb Mead, served chilled or on the rocks, is lovely with a crumble.
Herb and flower meads
Lighter and fresher. Lyme Bay's minty Garden Mead is a great accompaniment to any dessert and stunning over ice on a summer evening, and Lindisfarne Elderflower Mead is a natural match for strawberries, lemon tart and light, fruity puddings.
Ginger and chilli meads
For those who like a kick. Chilli Mead, best at room temperature, balances sweet honey with a tingle of heat. Try it with chorizo, spicy chicken wings or a cheese board with a bit of attitude. Ginger meads from Lyme Bay and Lindisfarne are gorgeous with Asian-inspired dishes and sticky ginger cake.
Dark and barrel-aged meads
Rich and complex. Fans of port and sherry will love Lindisfarne Dark Mead, so treat it the same way: with Stilton, walnuts and fruitcake. Hive Mind's 16% Oak Whisky Barrel-Aged Mead, with its vanilla and toasted oak, is brilliant with smoked meats, aged cheese and dark chocolate.
Raven Forge meads
Our own meads are made for feasting. Wizard's Mead, with its smooth honey and buttery toffee notes, practically begs for sticky toffee pudding or vanilla ice cream. Bold, deep brown Berserker and Bloodmoon are our picks for the main event: roast meats, a hearty stew and a long table of friends. Each comes with a free drinking horn.
The mead cheese board
If you only try one pairing, make it this. Build a board with something salty and blue, like Stilton; something hard and mature, like aged Cheddar; and something soft and creamy, like Brie. Add oatcakes, grapes, walnuts and a drizzle of honey. Pour two or three different meads and let everyone find their favourite match.
And for the full effect, serve it with our cheese axes. Axes. For cheese. Your guests will be talking about it for a saga's length.
How to host a Viking feast
- Start with a toast. Fill drinking horns with mead and raise them to absent friends. Horn noggins are perfect for smaller measures.
- Go big on the main. Roast pork, lamb or beef, root vegetables, bread and plenty of butter.
- Eat like a Norseman. A Viking eating spike and a hand-forged cutlery set set the scene.
- Finish sweet. Honey cake, fruit and a sweeter mead to close the night.
Serving tips
Most meads are best lightly chilled or at room temperature. Fruit and herb meads are great over ice, and spiced meads are lovely gently warmed (never boiled). For more, read our ultimate guide to drinking mead and the complete history of mead.
Mead pairing FAQs
What cheese goes with mead?
Salty blue cheeses like Stilton are the classic pairing with sweet mead, and mature Cheddar and creamy Brie work beautifully too.
What food goes with spiced mead?
Festive food: Christmas pudding, mince pies, gingerbread and roast dinners, ideally with the mead gently warmed.
Can you drink mead with dessert?
Absolutely. Just make sure the mead is at least as sweet as the dessert.
Where can I buy mead in the UK?
Right here. Browse British meads from Lyme Bay, Lindisfarne and Hive Mind, plus our own Viking meads, in The Mead Hall. You must be 18 or over to buy alcohol. Please drink responsibly.
