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Spreading Sweetness and Light

All about Mead. The new dessert wine that’s made of honey and produced environmentally. Gagan Sharma tastes it and is delighted

India’s relationship with honey is similar to that of having an undercover agent in the family. You know them, have grown up with them, but do you really know them? In December 2019, a report claimed the majority of Indian honeys were fake, adulterated, or chemically tweaked. It kindled a conversation about understanding them better. For an oenophile, there’s more to honey than just adding it to their breakfast spreads, in desserts, or in cocktails. There’s also mead, an ancient fermented alcoholic beverage gifted by the Indians to the world, which has been on the rise since its return in a nouveau, polished avatar about five years ago. And amongst its flag-bearers is Arka, an exotic dessert drink from Maharashtra.

Priyanka Save, a mechanical engineer by profession, was producing Fruzzante where she, along with Canadian fruit winemaker, Dominic Rivard, turned fruits into sincerely crafted fizzy alcoholic drinks. Based out of Bordi at the northern tip of Maharashtra, Fruzzante is the world’s first Chikoo (mudapple) winery that also produces drinks with starfruit, pineapple, orange, mango, and strawberry. On one of his visits in 2017, Dominic caught a cold, and to soothe his itchy throat, Priyanka gave him a remedial concoction of warm water, spices, ginger, and honey. Dominic of course loved it, and enquired if it could be infused in their sparkling chikoo drink. This was enough for Priyanka to put her mad scientist hat on and begin experiments around fermenting honey. She has forever been passionate about showcasing the brilliant natural offering of her region and this was her unprecedented chance to bring glory to the neighbouring Palghar tribal belt, whose golden nectar she’s been relishing since childhood. She jumped on the wagon, and a few months later, with assistance from Canadian mead-expert, Jay Hildybrant, Arka was born.

Priyanka says, “honey and mead find mentions in the vedas, they were consumed by the Pandavas, by royalties, and dignitaries. A lot of inspiration for Arka came from those periods. Honey is an extract of flowers, and Arka is the ancient Sanskrit term for that. We understand people relating honey to luxury & sweetness and that’s what we wanted to put in the bottle. Also, we knew it could later be exported, hence the bottle and the label had to bring in Indian elements like the stamp, elephants, etc”. While at it, Priyanka shares ‘Madhu’ was amongst the initially proposed names, a common Hindi moniker for honey. However, Maharashtra’s excise policy prohibits any alcohol being named after a woman’s name! Though stupid and funny enough a rule, I reckon ‘Arka’ aptly exhibits the philosophy of the drink.

When I tasted Arka from its first 2500-bottles batch I was pleasantly surprised. It was aromatic, perfumed, had surprisingly refreshing acidity, a pleasing furriness on the plate, and wasn’t cloying at all. It was something that could be relished often, than be held on to like a botrytised Semillon from South Africa or Australia, or an expensive, occasion-worthy Sauternes. The honey is sourced by the tribals inhabitant of the forests where flowers grow wildly, which moved Priyanka to christening it as ‘wildflower honey’, against multifloral as it’s generally called. Water is also sourced from the nearby stream that provides yeast essential nutrients to work. Unlike wines, where yeast is rendered inactive by dropping the fermentation temperature or adding sulphites, with Arka fermentation is arrested by adding more honey, suppressing the yeast than killing it. This not only sweetens the drink, it also helps retain the honey’s original character that blossoms even more with aeration. The honey is organic, sourced from the wild as it’s supposed to be, mixed with naturally sourced water, no sulphites, no killing of the yeast, Arka is the true arka of nature we say!




Arka, described as a wildflower honey comes in a distinctive bottle with a special cork and is imbued with several botanicals

At my first tasting, my instant reaction wasn’t just wow! such a delicious drink, instead it was wow! so much can be done with this drink. You see with dessert wines the idea is to capture the grape’s varietal character, and no flavour additions are permitted. However with meads, there’re no restrictions. Honey being a strong character even if fermented dry retains its sweet flavours, to which a plethora of botanicals can be added. Priyanka knew this from the start. Being an oenophile herself, she allures the mouthfeel of oak and tannins in a well-made red wine. Wanting to duplicate that she started toying with flavours and rose petals came in as a natural progression. They’re considered regal, a symbol of romance, the utmost sign of purity in Indian mythology, and it fitted precisely in Arka’s philosophy. Dried rose petals added that furriness, the grip, and gave it a commendable body that any discerning wine would be lauded for. We tasted it straight from the tanks at the winery in March last year. From the first whiff it arrests you like a cruel mistress and doesn’t let your attention waiver. It comes capsulated with a special cork that allows the mead to breathe and live until it’s consumed, and then it becomes a memory.

After Rose Arka, the team went tad loco and playing with flavours became an obsession. Priyanka found herself naturally drawn to the Palghar belt again, this time for the Konkan Bahadoli Jamun berries. Priyanka confidently says “we look for ingredients that impart flavours, and are close to Indian hearts. Who hasn’t enjoyed these dark, gummy, juicy, teeth-staining berries?”. Rightly so. These local berries have a thin skin that doesn’t allow the drink to get too dark or tannic, but impart enough to be treated like a red wine. Jamuns are deseeded, pulped, and added to the base Arka mead before being sweetened. Much like a wine, it’s then rested in ex-wine neutral oak barrels for about 3 months before returning to the tank for stabilisation, bottling, and shipping off. 

Rose Arka is a dessert mead flavoured with dried rose petals

Experiments continue, and now Arka will soon have two more cousins. The next one is a limited release batch in collaboration with chef Varun Inamdar. Apart from being a super-talented chef he’s also uber passionate about chocolates, and can single-handedly be deemed responsible for driving Priyanka to set trails with them. South Indian cacao nibs are lightly roasted before being infused in the base of the original Arka mead for about a week before being sweetened, rested, and released. The one after that will fill the bottle with single origin honey from Vidarbha region and famed Nagpuri oranges. That’s a combo that can’t go wrong, right? But, this one may be at least a year’s wait, and knowing Priyanka’ perfectionism, it may even be longer, so we shouldn’t get excited just yet. After all, there’s so much to come after that…

Meads are gluten free, guilt free, and way more versatile than what we have put on the shelves in this short span of five years. They’ve definitely excited us and made us look at our alcobevs in a different light, an environmentally and consciously driven light. Fruzzante brought glory to many Geographical Indication tagged fruits, and now with Arka that family is set only to grow further. What Arka does is it brings along a better understanding of honey, meads, our agricultural richness, and commends the efforts of the families behind the nectars. It’s a celebration of Indian ethos, the rich cultural heritage, and our senses. And if you’re still not convinced, remember what Einstein said – the day bees die humans will have only four years to live. With every sip of Arka you’ll make the earth breathe and be a more sustainable place to be at. It’s the essence worth having.

Arka MRPs – MH + Goa 

Rose – INR1095

Original & Jamun – INR1050

By April it would be available in Rajasthan Delhi & Punjab, prices will vary

 

First Published in Sommelier India Wine Magazine, 2022

 

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Articles Honey Mead

Alco-bev trend: To bee or not to bee

Mead is reclaiming its hallowed roots, promising not just a flavourful, spirited alternative, but it weighs in on the sustainability narrative too.

Arkä Honey Dessert

If Adam and Eve were to put down the apple and pick up a drink instead, it could only be mead. The teetotaller Einstein once prophesised that the day bees die, humans will have only four years to live. Then, could he have possibly been drinking something else? And it was only mead that ensured Pandavas survived their exile in the pitiless rugged wilderness. The oldest beverage known to mankind is now making waves in India too; its birthplace, where it all began. Yet, it’s still under covers, waiting to be unveiled and deciphered. 

 Mead is nature taking the bees’ work and turning it into another discerning gem. Honey is fermented producing 4-16 per cent abv with varied sweetness and fizziness, to which further flavours can be added. Traditionally, these were either fruits or spices, adding to the medicinal, antibacterial, antioxidant values of alcohol in the first place, hence the expression ‘davaa daaru’! Honey in itself is a soother and the loosely grouped term ‘madhu’ has represented alcoholic beverages in India since the Vedas, thus bars were christened ‘madhushala’, inspiring poets likes Ghalib and Harivansh Rai Bacchhan. Our alco-bevs have revolved around honey, so has our civilisation, toting honey as the only antidote to all deadly pandemics, apparently. And as with all things old; traditions revisit as a second coming. So also with meads which is being resurrected with glory and passion.

Old Wine in a new Bottle?

Moonshine Meadery’s recent quirky stint at Shark Tank India kindled countless conversations. The Indian gin craze and meads approximately began at the same time, circa early 2018. While gins have created a revolution, half a decade on meads are yet to be completely decoded. Something as rudimentary as setting it as a category in itself has been a task. Though it comes in a pint bottle and our excise lists it as wine, you’ll see #MeadIsNotBeer trending on Instagram, which, let’s agree, is the ultimate socially-befitting court of decision!

Mead to Order

Many urban warriors are reviving the art of beekeeping now. Rohan Rehani, Moonshine Meadery’s co-founder, quit engineering, and mastered the art through a professional qualitification. And in the hunt for the most sustainable, purest, and varietal honeys they’ve setup their own namesake honey brand. Is it really the purest though? Well, here’s a true story. I was born allergic to honey, a reaction so strong that a teaspoon would land me in an ICU. Until I visited Moonshine and dared tasting their varietal honeys, and buying 8 kg over the following weeks. Turns out, I was allergic to fake honey (or foney as we call it now), and had never experienced the real stuff!

Why the move to meads?

 

Unlike beers, (most) wines, and spirits, meads are gluten free, and low on calories too, taking away the guilt of nursing a beer-belly or chubby cheeks. Unlike the stubbornness of the universally written rules around Witbiers, Hefeweizens and wines, meads have no limitations of style, sweetness, and what goes in it, minus water and honey of course. “There’s a dearth of flavourful beverages in the country. We bring in a cultural nostalgia too working with flavours like Bhoot Jholakia chillies, coffee and jasmine that’s very southern, mangoes and pineapples that we’ve grown-up with, Kokum that every Maharashtraian-Goan house has, etc”, says Nitin Vishwas, Moonshine’s co-founder. Priyanka Save, co-founder of Arka Honey Dessert too has brought rose petals, jamun, orange, and cocoa to the spectrum. 

What sets mead apart

Apart from the playfulness, no-expiry tag, and versatility, it’s their ability to make Earth a better place. Bees add immense value to the environment, making it more sustainable, productive, and supportive. Dr. Yoginee Budhkar of Cerana Meads shares “if it wasn’t for bees, humans can’t use pollen anyway. Bees do the work for us. Not just segregating wet and dry garbage, and avoiding plastic straws, drinking mead is a delicious way of supporting the environment and making better choices.”

Moonshine Meadery

As I write this just after Women’s Day, Save makes a powerful statement with “the queen bee is rising”. The recent release of Jack Daniels Honey and Patrons’s Honey Tequila is a global statement that it most definitely is. “Meads and honey-accented drinks are a cool bridge between the childhood favourite cola and sharbet and the bitter-toned wines and beers. And in the Indian weather, a light, flavoursome, guilt-free drink makes the perfect fit”, adds Vishwas. Options vary from the dry and fruity meads from Moonshine to the Spiced Yule from Cerana and the ‘pressed and blessed’ dessert nectars from Arka. We hear more are on their way. 

Cerana Meads
What’ll make 2022 the golden year for meads?

Unlike in beers, honey is in limited supply and can’t be over produced. In the last decade and a half, producers have refined their offerings from their liquids, to labels, storytelling, and styles, gathering evidence from market demand and aspirations. Finally, they seem to have garnered enough confidence to toy and flirt with hues and flavor profiles with unabashed gallantry and flair. What Bira did for beers in India—providing an alternative to mass-produced chemical-induced lagers—meads will do for a bigger spectrum of the menu. And let’s be honest, we’ve also been spoilt for choice; it’s rare to go to the liquor store and return without picking a few new labels. FOMO is for real.

No matter what your motivation or inspiration that drives you to mead—a new drink, flavourful offering, sustainability, environmentalism, or guilt-free drinking—it’s here to stay. And as Einstein urged: Keep the bees alive if you want to indulge in good choices. Translation? Drink meads and make earth great again. 

 

First published in India Today Spice March,2022