Meadowsweet in Mead Making

This is a herb with a long association with Mead. Medwort or Mead Wort, was one of fifty ingredients in a drink called ‘Save’ mentioned by English author Geoffrey Chaucer in a Knight’s Tale.

It is a unique ingredient that takes some care to bring the best out of. In small quantities it adds a complexity and nuance to a mead, in larger quantities it will take a mead in a whole new direction, balance is key with this ingredient and it is very easy to end up with a floral barnyard in a bottle if overly generous in its use.

In mead it gives a fresh hay, almonds and vanilla aroma, it is an ingredient that well benefits from ageing and with big quantities of herbage it is not as pleasant straight out of a ferment as it is after a year of mellowment. 

This is an ingredient that is best not treated with heat. Meadowsweet can bring a flavour that is described by some as almost antiseptic like, this is accentuated when heat is applied.

I use it along with Chamomile and elderflower to create a soft and aromatic mead that is very well received, but tastes quite unpleasant before it ages. Softer and more pleasant flavours can be achieved quicker with its use in secondary, however, these do lack some of the complexity of fermented meadowsweet.

This is not a crowd pleasing flavour, some like it some don't.

The active aroma ingredient is Coumarin, which is also found in abundances in Cassia Cinnamon (AKA true cinnamon) but only in trace amounts in other cinnamon varieties. Coumarin has had some links to negative health effects when taken in high doses.