ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) — Honey, water, and yeast. Those are the main ingredients behind a recently opened spot in Nob Hill. Although it may sound simple, the owners assure that the process is a labor of love.
“We really do want to make it like an immersive experience,” said Bernie, who owns 4 Norsemen’s Mead alongside her husband CJ Daniels. “Technically it’s like a wine, it’s a honey wine, but we try not to have a wine vibe. We really want it to feel… you know, when you walk in, and we have that communal, long table filled, where everybody is either family or friends, no matter who you are.”
4 Norsemen’s Mead is not your typical drinking hole. The inspiration behind Albuquerque’s only meadery is rooted in ancestry, tradition, and most of all, family. For Daniels, mead started out as a hobby to further explore his Norse and Scandinavian heritage. As his homemade mead collection multiplied, he started giving out bottles to friends and family, who’d come back for seconds. That success prompted the idea of selling it.
Cut to today, and the meadery opened its doors for the first time this past Saturday, where there was a wide array of people looking to try out some local mead – from bikers, to fairies, and even businessmen. One of the best sellers of the night was “Ravenstorm,” which is mead with cocoa nibs, hazelnut, and vanilla. Another popular choice was a mead made with home-harvested prickly pears – a combination aiming to fuse Norse with New Mexico…