Mead Cocktails
Mead can serve as a glorious addition to a cocktail. Honey provides a robust and elegant sweetness that is much preferred to white sugar or the standard corn syrup-- Yuck! Try the recipes below, or try replacing a sweet liqueur with a mead that plays nice with the other cocktail ingredients. You're only limited by your own creativity, so get mixing!
Recipes
Not Jest Another Old Fashioned
Not Jest Another Old Fashioned
2 oz Rye Whiskey
A few dashes of Orchid Cellar Jester (or more to taste)
Cherry for garnish (optional)
Orange peel for garnish (optional)
Add Jester to a glass with ice. Pour in whiskey and stir. Garnish with a cherry and orange peel. This is not just another Old Fashioned cocktail. It’s THE Jester Old Fashioned cocktail! Enjoy!
Gin-ger UP
Gin-Ger Up
1 part Gin (we recommend McClintock Distilling)
3 parts Duchess (Ginger Root Mead)
1 dash of Angostura Bitters
Shake vigorously with ice and strain into a coupe glass with an orange twist.
Soothing Hot Mead Toddy
Soothing Hot Mead Toddy
1 oz Rye Whiskey
1 1/2 oz Orchid Cellar Knight or Orchid Cellar Duchess
1 tsp honey
slice of lemon
slice of fresh ginger
1 cup hot water
Pour the whisky and Knight or Duchess into a mug. Heat the water so it’s steaming, but not boiling. Stir the honey into the mug then pour the hot water over the spoon and into the mug and continue to stir. Cut a slice of lemon and ginger, add to the mug and allow to steep for a couple minutes. Enjoy!
Mead Margarita
1.5oz Añejo Tequila or Mezcal
1.5oz Any "Hunter" Series Chile Pepper Mead
1/2 part Fresh Lime Juice
1/2 bottle of Fever Tree Bitter Lemon
Add everything except the Bitter Lemon to a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a salted-rim glass filled with ice and top with the Bitter Lemon. Garnish with a lime and let the spice wash over you.
Mead Margarita
Heat me up, Scotty
Heat me up, Scotty
1 part Archer
1 part Fresh Pressed Apple Cider (We recommend Distillery Lane Ciderworks)
1 cinnamon stick
Orange rind (optional)
Heat the mead and cider in a saucepan until you can smell the alcohol evaporating (about 175 degrees), then remove and serve with a cinnamon stick. If you're feeling frisky, add a splash of grain alcohol or bourbon after finished heating.
Cobbler Sangria
1 bottle of Orchid Cellar Cobbler
2 bottles of Lemon + Vanilla Elemental Mead
1 cup of white grape juice
1 cup of club soda
2-3 peaches (sliced)
3-4 strawberries (sliced)
A few mint leaves (optional)
Add everything except the mint leaves to a pitcher and stir. Serve over ice and garnish with mint leaves for a refreshing, perfectly peach, summer sangria!
Cobbler Sangria
Old Southern Hunter
Old Southern Hunter
1.5oz Rye Whiskey
.5-1.5oz (to taste) Castellan, Hunter, or Archer
2 dashes of orange bitters
Orange Rind
Add one ice cube to a rocks glass and pour the mead and whiskey over it. Add 2 dashes of orange bitters. Add a small swizzle of honey (very scientific term) on a spoon and stir the drink with it. Garnish with an orange rind and find a fireplace.
Strawberry Mead Gin Cocktail
1 oz Elemental Strawberry Mead
1 oz Gin (we recommend McClintock Distilling)
Fresh strawberries
Lime Wedge
Club Soda (optional)
Muddle one fresh Strawberry on the bottom of the glass. Add 2 ice cubes, and pour in the Gin and Elemental Strawberry. Squeeze in the juice of the lime wedge. and finish with a splash of club soda. Garnish with a strawberry and/or lime wedge.
Strawberry Mead Gin Cocktail
Hunter Hot Chocolate
Hunter Hot Chocolate
2 parts hot chocolate
1 part Orchid Cellar Hunter
Whipped cream (optional)
Ground cinnamon (optional)
Cinnamon stick (optional)
Add hot chocolate and Hunter into a mug. Top with whipped cream and add a sprinkle if ground cinnamon. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and drink while it’s hot.
Fletcher Lemonade
1 part lemonade
1 part Orchid Cellar Fletcher
Combine lemonade and Fletcher in glass with ice. Relax and refresh with this adult lemonade!
Fletcher Lemonade
Ghost of Mary - Maryland Style
Ghost of Mary - Maryland Style
1 cup tomato juice
1/4 cup vodka
1oz (or more to taste) Orchid Cellar Ghost Hunter
1/2 Tsp Old Bay seasoning
1/4 Tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 Tsp lemon juice
1/8 Tsp horseradish
1 lime wedge
1 celery stick
We’re turning up the heat with this Maryland style bloody Mary! Run the lime wedge around the rim of your glass and then dip in Old Bay seasoning. Combine tomato juice, vodka, Ghost Hunter, Old Bay seasoning, Worcestershire, lemon juice, and horseradish into glass. Stir until mixed well. Garnish with lime wedge and celery stick.
Alchemist Mimosa
Alchemist Mimosa
1 shot of Orchid Cellar Alchemist (or any Orchid Cellar fruit mead)
1 - 4oz (to taste) Champagne
Chill and add everything to a glass. Enjoy this black currant, sultry twist to your traditional mimosa!
Apple Mead-hattan
Apple Mead-hattan
2 oz Rye Whiskey
2 oz Elemental Heirloom Cider Mead
A dash of orange bitters
Slice of orange for garnish (optional)
Slice of apple for garnish (optional)
Stir the rye, Heirloom Cider, and bitters well with ice. Strain into a glass and garnish with a slice of apple and a slice of orange.