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USA TODAY SPECIAL EDITION
UP FRONT | MEAD
Need for Mead For some of the country’s best, go west By Kae Lani Palmisano
M
ALLI CHINN TUPPER
EAD — AN ANCIENT ALCOHOLIC drink
made by fermenting honey — is making a comeback. Take a trip from Washington to California and explore the best meaderies the Pacific Coast has to offer:
WYRD LEATHER AND MEAD Milwaukie, Ore. Wyrd Leather and Mead also specializes in handcrafted leatherwares, and its artisan meads are a unique taste of the Pacific Northwest. Try the semi-sweet Traditional, which features West Coast wildflower honey fermented with a yeast strain from Norway.
JOLIE HUBBARD
GOLDEN COAST MEAD Oceanside, Calif. San Diego’s first commercial meadery, Golden Coast offers traditional orange blossom and clover blossom meads, but the sour wines are its specialty. Start off your sour mead journey with the Something Something Sour, which draws its flavor from organic wildflower honey.
CASSEY HILL
HIEROPHANT MEADERY Mead, Wash. The award-winning Chrysopoeia from Hierophant is a traditional-style mead that’s smooth, subtle and somewhat creamy. For a more bright and floral-tasting mead, try the Lavender Citrus, which pairs the sweet aroma of lavender with the zest of citrus.
