PARIS, Oct 26 ― Water, honey... and bubbles! That's the recipe for a brand-new drink that refreshes an age-old tipple dating back to ancient times. What's different about this 2021 take on mead is the addition of a light fizz, as well as a lower alcohol content, at no more than 4.5°. Meet Bulles de Ruche.
What if you swapped your glass of champagne for a glass of sparkling mead this holiday season? This honey wine was already being concocted in the early days of history, relying on the transformation of sugars contained in honey into alcohol. Aristotle himself even described a recipe for this highly alcoholic tipple back in his day. The Greeks and Romans also consumed it and passed on this habit to the Gauls. In short, mead is not a new drink.
However, this long-forgotten alcoholic beverage is getting a new lease on life thanks to an entrepreneur who has had the good idea of revisiting the recipe in a sparkling version ― perfect for celebrating events ― and with a reduced alcohol content, meeting new customer demands for low-alcohol alternatives. Created by Paul-Augustin Delattre, Beeche's Bulles de Ruche mead comes in at just 4.5°, while other variations can have an alcohol content of 18°. The production process is similar to that of a wine, with a stainless-steel tank for the fermentation stage, which takes place at low temperature. Exogenous yeasts are used so that the concoction maintains a certain acidity. The drink's appearance, its pretty golden colour, as well as its bottle, also fit perfectly with the codes of the wine world.
And the verdict?
When first sampling the drink, its lightness immediately leads to comparison with cider. However, the similarities end there. As a certain bitterness coats the palate, it gives rise to an obvious comparison with a lager. But here, in a different form, beer drinkers can revel in an altogether more floral drink.
The brand has chosen three types of honey to create versions of the drink with different aromatic profiles: lychee honey sourced in southeastern Madagascar, lavender honey harvested on the Valensole plateau in Provence, and lime honey gathered in the Forest of Halatte in the Oise region of France. The drink is sold for €12 (around RM57.84) at the Grande Epicerie de Paris, as well as at the Halles Modernes and at Cigoire in Lille.
And if ancient wines are your thing, it's possible to sup concoctions that are as close as possible to the recipes that the Romans used to make wine at a vineyard in France's Gard region, where excavations have unearthed amphorae. Heir to a Gallo-Roman villa that made containers for exporting wine, Mas des Tourelles has developed three original wines, including Mulsum, a blend of wine and honey and a certain number of plants and spices to make an unusual and delicious drink! ― ETX Studio
