Sweet Finnish

Summer 2024

15%

Mead Details-

This mead was made using Hawaiian Lemon Blossom honey, Indiana Wildflower honey, and Melter honey. Melter honey is basically extra caramelized honey. 

After fermentation we added Italian lemon juice and dried lemon peel. 

We used K1-V1116 yeast.

This mead was approximately 8 months old before bottling. 

Inspired by a classic springtime drink from Finland, Sima, the “Sweet Finnish” is our love letter to a friend’s personal mead recipe. This “mead” recipe was old enough to have long since omitted the honey from the ingredients, therefore, the Sweet Finnish was born to be a modern take on a spring treat, whilst also taking it back to its original roots. 

Sima, essentially fermented lemonade, had four main components: water, lemons, white sugar and brown sugar. With that in mind, we, after replacing the sugar with honey again took that and used lemon blossom honey, a molasses-like dark honey called melter honey, and a pinch of wildflower honey to loosely imitate and reference what makes sima, sima. Then after adding lemon juice and lemon peel we ended with our Sweet Finnish

Digging in with the nose on the Sweet Finnish, there are obvious notes of lemon citrus initially. The notes are distinctly lemon blossom honey, for the familiar, along the lemon juice/peel. Noticeably a pseudo molasses/dark honey scent enveloped under the citrus and a floral sweet finish

Taking a first sip and its a movement of semi-sweet lemon citrus, honey both sweet and rich alike, with a rustic and tannic finish that allows the lemon peel to pull through. The Sweet Finnish is indeed not particularly sweet, instead favoring notes straight from the lemon juice and lemon blossom, with a crisp lemon from the juice and a sweet floral lemon citrus note from the honey. All the while the melter honey’s burnt, dark, rustic and brown sugar notes balance out under it all. This bold undertone further announces the final sweet and semi-bitter note from the lemon peel. While most sips have that lemon peel finish, perhaps spiritually, the post-swallow coating in your mouth allows for the subtlest sweet wildflower honey notes a chance to come out, hilariously giving this profile a sweet finish indeed.