Mead, the alcohol better known as honey wine, is 'liquid history in a glass'

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One of the easiest beverages for beginning home brewers is a basic mead. 

But what is mead? 

And where did it come from? 

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Just in time for National Mead Day, a "vibrant celebration" of the beverage held on the first Saturday of every August, read on to find out more about this curious beverage.

1. Mead has many names and varieties 

"Mead, also known as honey wine, is one of the most incredible fermented beverages known to humans," Julia Herz, executive director of the Colorado-based American Homebrewers Association, told Fox News Digital in an email. 

Wine is fermented grapes, whereas mead is fermented honey – hence the name "honey wine." 

Mead is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented honey. Each year on the first Saturday of August, mead lovers celebrate the beverage.  (iStock)

The ancient Greeks called mead "ambrosia" or "nectar," noted the American Homebrewers Association's website.

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Mead can also be mixed with other beverages. 

A mead that is "mixed with beer or brewed with hops and malt" is known as a "braggot," whereas mead with fruit is known as a "melomel," the American Homebrewers Association said. 

"Hydromel is a watered-down version consumed in Spain and France," the website said. 

Mead can be mixed with different fruits and herbs to create different flavors. (Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The type of honey used to make mead also plays an important role, Herz said.

"Mead can also have fruit, herbs and spices added to fermented honey for added sensory reward," she said. "With hundreds of honey types, there is no end to experimentation and the possibilities."

2. Mead played a role in ancient religious traditions

Mead "was believed to be the drink of the gods and was thought to descend from the heavens as dew before being gathered in by bees," the American Homebrewers Association said. 

"Many European cultures also thought bees were messengers of the gods and preferred mead over wine in rites and grand ceremonies." 

Norse mythology states that warriors who reach Valhalla will be given mead. (Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

A variety of ancient cultures, including the Egyptians, Celts, Greeks, Chinese and Vikings, all drank forms of mead, noted the website for the Irish meadery Kinsale Mead Co. 

Mead was especially important to the Vikings and in Norse mythology, noted the American Homebrewers Association.

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Warriors who reached Valhalla – the warrior's heaven in Norse mythology – were promised "a draught of mead, delivered by divine maidens," as a reward, it said. 

Even today, a form of mead known as "Tej" or "T'ej" is the national drink of Ethiopia, according to the mead resource website "Got Mead?" Tej has been brewed in Ethiopia since the fourth century, it said.

Tej, a mead that is brewed and consumed in Ethiopia, is the country's national drink.  (iStock)

3. Mead is one of the oldest forms of alcohol

In northern China, pottery dating from 9000 BC was found to have traces of mead, the BBC reported, meaning that mead is thousands of years older than the wheel. 

The beverage was first brewed in Europe between 2800 and 1800 BC, according to the BBC. 

Mead, Herz said, is "literally living liquid history in a glass." 

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The earliest forms of mead, Herz said, were made from rainwater and natural fermentation processes. 

"Since the days that rainwater first diluted a honeybee hive inside the trunk of a tree and wild yeast fermented it, this 'wine' has made the world a better place," she said. 

Mead has been brewed for thousands of years and is older than the invention of the wheel. (iStock)

Even today, mead is still brewed with these same ingredients. 

The main ingredients in a traditional dry mead are just water, honey and yeast, the website for the American Homebrewers Association said. 

4. Mead (maybe) gave us the term ‘honeymoon’ 

After a wedding, it is very common for the newly married couple to go on a "honeymoon."

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One theory of why this trip is called a "honeymoon" has to do with mead, Dictionary.com claims.

The term "honeymoon" may have its origins in a tradition of consuming mead. (iStock)

The term "honeymoon" comes from the Old English term "hony moone," said Dictionary.com.

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"There are several theories [about] where this name came from. The name may refer to the 'Mead Moon' or 'Honey Moon,' an old name for the June full moon," it said. 

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At the time, mead was thought to increase fertility and bring luck to a couple, the website Batch Mead said — so newlyweds would drink mead for a full moon cycle.