Show me the honey

This year when the team behind Moonshine Meadery sent their entries to the European Beer Challenge they knew it would be a big deal if they won Launched in 2018 the brand is Indiarsquos first meadery based out of Pirangut Pune ldquoThe folks who grade us are among the biggest buyers importers distributors retailers and in some cases even manufacturers in Europe Winning anything here is really about the recognition that an Indian brand in a new category can make a splash on the world stagerdquo says cofounder Rohan RehaniFounders Nitin Vishwas and Rohan RehaniMoonshine returned with three awards Double Gold for their grilled pineapple mead a Gold for their project x mead and a bronze for their popular guava chilli mead in the meads category at an event held in London this April Incidentally itrsquos only the second alcobev brand from India after Bira to win at this challengeMead also known as honey wine is believed to be the worldrsquos oldest alcoholic libation historically consumed by a rather diverse audience ranging from humble working folk and Vikings to royalty Although often mistaken for beer given that both are brewed and fermented this drink holds its own placeThe word mead explains cofounder Nitin Vishwas comes from the Indo Latin word lsquomedursquo which is derived from the Sanskrit word lsquomadhursquo ldquoMead is essentially honey water yeast mixed in a certain proportion and fermented under controlled temperatures Fruit and spices are added to enhance the taste Meads can exist with as low as 35 per cent abv alcohol by volume one can also push a mead upto 1213 per cent abv While the main process greatly resembles wine making when one makes meads with less than 8 per cent abv the fruit and spice infusions resemble that of craft beerrdquoMead is made by fermenting honey with water It is sometimes flavoured with fruit spices grain or hops Pic CourtesyTanya Thomas ampAroonabha GhoseMoonshinersquos grilled pineapple and guava chilli have been two of their bestselling small batch meads or what they call MeadLABs The intention behind these is to use only seasonal produce ldquoWe use a mix of pink and white guava and Naga bhut jolokia chillies for the guava chilli mead and pineapples grilled over coal and aged on oak chips for the grilled pineapple The effort put into crafting these styles comes through in how delicious they arerdquoThis writer took a shine to the grilled pineapple mead Rs 199 made using multifloral honey and spiced rumsoaked pineapples Itrsquos smoky robust and refreshing at the same time Project x is prepared using single origin honey ldquoTowards the latter half of 2020 we started sourcing our own honey from bee boxes across the country and made this batch of Project X with a harvest of Sidr honeyrdquo says Vishwas The remaining honey is sold directly through their new vertical Moonshine Honey Project Glugging the aromatic guava chilli took us back to school days when wersquod bite into the lsquoperursquo sprinkled with chilli powder by the sidewalk Despite the spicy note itrsquos pleasantly lightThe brand has been consistently experimenting with ingredients although they may not have struck gold with all ldquoWe have made standalone flavours using peanut butter jelly hibiscus beetroot and even bitter gourd We generally run a lot of these via the tap route draft at events preCovid to check consumer feedbackrdquo If they think itrsquos too niche they avoid going the bottle route ldquoHowever the other filter is more technicalmdashsince we use 100 per cent real fruits and spices some meads start to break down over time Hence itrsquos typically risky bottling it as there is no control on consumption timelines and therefore qualityrdquo explains VishwasThe Moonshine Honey Project Beebox at Gorus Farms Pune Towards the latter half of 2020 the brand started sourcing their own honey from bee boxes across the country and made a batch of Project X with a harvest of Sidr honeyThree years ago when they launched the brand there was no mead market in the whole of Asia to speak of observes Rehani ldquoItrsquos only in the last three years that two meaderies have launched in Singapore one in Thailand and a few in China In India therersquos one coming up in Chandigarh one in Bengaluru and hopefully a few more in Maharashtra The bottom line is that there is an active market in India for flavourful RTDs readtodrink and mead is a great option within this spacerdquoInterestingly the old world tipple globally earned a reputation among the lsquonew generation of hipster drinkerrsquo when HBOrsquos hit drama series Game Of Thrones kicked off its sixth season in 2016 Rehani prefers to call this breed of drinkers the early movers ldquoThis is the group which is always looking for the next new thing in the market and is critical to the consumer ecosystem The feedback from them is important since most often itrsquos candid and honestrdquo Their audience has evolved and is no longer restricted to age groups he adds ldquoAnyone who is looking for taste over intoxication and a nonbitter drinking experience picks up MoonshineThe fact that itrsquos carbonated helps add to the drinking experience That itrsquos also glutenfree and has antioxidant properties makes the choice easierrdquo