How to Make Orange Cinnamon and Clove Mead

Mead, or honey wine, is the oldest known alcoholic beverage. Mead is made of honey, water and yeast. Different combinations of fruit, spice and herbs provide a variety of flavor. Orange cinnamon and clove mead is a popular version of this preferred drink of ancient Greece.

Things You'll Need

• 1-gallon carboy or plastic jug
• 5-quart enamel or stainless steel cooking pot
• 1 gallon water
• 3 lbs. honey
• Spoon
• Large orange
• Two whole cloves
• Stick cinnamon
• 1 tsp. brewer's yeast
• Fermentation lock
• 1 yard clear plastic tubing, 1/2-inch diameter
• Bottles
• Bottle caps

Instructions

1. Clean a 1-gallon carboy, which is a plastic brewing vessel fitted with a rubber stopper and a fermentation or air lock. Substitute a clean plastic jug if you don't have a carboy.

2. Boil 1 gallon of water. Add honey to boiling water. Stir to mix well.

3. Slice the orange into small sections. Add the orange, cloves and cinnamon to the honey mixture. Cover and let stand until cool. Decant the mixture into the carboy.

4. Add yeast. Use champagne or ale yeast specifically made for brewing. Baker's or bread yeast won't provide a satisfactory result when used to make mead.

5. Install the fermentation lock on the carboy. Place the carboy in a warm dark place. Allow fermentation to occur. The process should take several weeks to 2 months.

6. Use a clear plastic tube to siphon the clear liquid into bottles. Seal and cap the bottles. Store in a cool dark place at room temperature.

Tips & Warnings

• The proper name for honey wine made with fruits is Melomel. If it's made with spices, it is called Metheglin. Hippocras is honey wine made with both fruit and spice.

• You may vary the flavor of mead by using different varieties of honey. Clover honey will give a light and mild flavor. Fruit honeys, such as raspberry, peach or apple, are best used to make a fruit mead. The strong flavor of buckwheat, wild flower or orange blossom honey is best suited for a spiced mead.

• Mead is an alcoholic beverage with an alcohol content of between 7 and 22 percent. Consume this beverage responsibly.