How Game of Thrones has given drinkers a thirst for mead
A FAVOURITE of the Vikings, it’s one of the oldest known alcoholic drinks.
Now mead is making a comeback, fuelled by the popularity of the TV show Game of Thrones and online fantasy games such as World of Warcraft in which characters glug it down with gusto.
English Heritage, the country’s largest retailer of the drink, said yesterday sales have risen by an average of 10 per cent year on year for the past three years.
There is such a taste for it among some trendy tipplers that there is even a meadthemed cocktail bar in Birmingham.
Mead, made from fermented honey, is thought to have first been brewed 9,000 years ago. Once regarded as ‘the drink of kings’, its popularity fell when cheaper alternatives such as wine appeared.
Cameron Moffett, of English Heritage, said: ‘It was the power drink of Europe thousands of years ago before winemak-
ing had developed and it’s now being discovered by a whole new generation.’
In the year from April 2017 to this March, the organisation, which cares for more than 400 historic buildings, monuments and sites, sold 29,750 bottles of its own brand mead at £10.50 each.
Sam Boulton, 26, who owns the meadthemed cocktail bar The Vanguard in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, said yesterday: ‘There isn’t a specific demographic for mead drinkers – we get all sorts.
‘We’ve got our regulars, young couples who come in to drink mead all night, and once had some pagans come in looking to select a mead for their wedding.’
He added: ‘People enjoy that historical throwback with the modern twist. With the success of Game of Thrones, as well as the rise in popularity of experimental cocktails, you could definitely call mead the new up-and-coming drink.’
‘Historical throwback’