Mead or Polish Honey Wine

Mead in Poland

Mead or ‘’miód pitny’’ is a kind of a traditional alcoholic beverage made from a mixture of honey and water. It has been around for centuries and holds a well-deserved place in Polish tradition. Today, Poland is the world's top one country for production of mead made by traditional methods. 

Mead in Poland first appeared sometime during the early Middle Ages. It is said that, thanks to the abundance of honey in Polish forests, it was far easier to create an alcoholic beverage from this ingredient than it was from any other. As mead in Poland was strong enough to satisfy the need for alcohol, tasted nice and it even served as a remedy, the love for this drink comes as no surprise. 

During the course of time, mead would lose and gain its popularity, depending on the economic situation in the country, especially once wine and vodka became accessible. That said, nowadays some people tend to prefer drinking Polish honey wine to anything else, but it’s not commonly present in Polish households. 

Where and How to Drink Polish Mead

Wondering how to drink Polish mead? 

Just like wine, miód pitny can be enjoyed in both hot and cold weather. And just like wine, Polish mead can be served chilled or even mulled, spiced up with flavors like cinnamon, cloves, etc. Although it is more common in Poland to drink either vodka or beer, you can easily find this beverage in shops, both online and in-store, locally and internationally, like the known brand Apis Jadwiga Polish mead.

When choosing Polish honey wine, it is important to know the different types it comes in. Czwórniak is the one where you find three times the water with one measurement of honey, trójniak is for two times the water, dwójniak is a half-and-half and półtorak mead is where you add half the amount of water to the amount of honey. 

Note that you cannot quite describe the taste of Polish mead. You have to try it yourself to know exactly if, how and when it suits you best. And when it comes to its strength - traditional Polish honey mead goes line in line with the strongest Polish beer. 

While the Polish mead recipe is not impossible to follow at home, it is quite time consuming and you do need quite a bit of experience to make the best version of Polish mead in your own space. 

Hope this article will get you to try Polish mead yourself!

Before you start drinking mead, hope on over and check out our article on "How To say Cheer And Toast In Polish"

Or if your Polish is a little rusty, check out our article and learn some Polish language basics