Mazery, Mead, and Other Uncommon Words

The language of honey:

Mead is historically a general term for any wine made with honey, and in modern usage a specific term for wine made only from honey, yeast and water.

Melomels are meads made with fruit and honey. Methyglyns are meads made with herbs or spices fermented in with the honey.

Rhodomel is a specific methyglyn: honey fermented with fresh rose petals. Morat is a specific melomel made from mulberries and honey.

The English word Medicine is descended from the Welsh word Meddyglyn, meaning mead made with herbs. The Welsh word was later Anglicized as Methyglyn, with a variety of spellings.

Mazery is an older word for a meadery, and is from the same root as amazement, bemazed, etc. To 'be mazed' was once in common usage, meaning enraptured or lost in amazement.

Varietal Honeys are produced by master beekeepers who place hives with fresh wax frames to harvest a particular blooming. While the bees work that one plant or tree, they stay there, and when the bloom starts to change the honey is taken away. As a result, they are only available on years when the given blossoming produces a good honey flow. They have distinctive and desirable tastes and characters, which define the meads made from them.

We hope to expand on this language section as time goes on. Meanwhile, we hope this brief summary whets without sating any curiosity caused by our fondness of old usages and language.

Enjoy!

Have a favorite language's word for alcohol made from honey? Or another language topic? Let us know, we'll be glad to hear from you at: languageofhoney@mountaindragonmazery.com.   Include a brief citation if you can! Thanks!

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