Nani Moon - Winter Sun

Winter Sun is a starfruit and passionfruit mead from Nani Moon Meadery in Hawaii.  This is a season mead that comes in 750mL bottles, is 14% ABV, and retails at their tasting room for $24.  

Winter Sun is made with all local Hawaiian ingredients; wildflower honey from the island of Kaua'i, starfruit, and lilikoi (passionfruit).  

To the best of my knowledge this is the only meadery in Hawaii, and what a cool opportunity to leverage the amazing local ingredients available: the tropical fruits, the interesting honeys.  

 First impression of this mead is the smell.  The nose is overflowing with juicy, tropical flavors of passionfruit, mango, starfruit, papaya, and white wine.  There's a hint of alcohol and acetone, but not overpowering.  

The taste follows fairly similar to the smell.  There's less fruit on the tongue and more white wine characteristics:  green apple, a hint of acetone, pinot grigio-esque.  It's also a pretty dry mead, so it finishes almost like a sauvignon blanc; dry, grassy, citrus, and a bit of oak.  I can tell that the province of this mead is rooted in wine-making and that I would venture to guess that the mead makers came from the wine world.  This mead drinks so much like a dry white wine it's unbelievable.  

If you are a fan of those wines this is a wonderful bridge into the mead world.  It's also a great deal at $24 for a 750mL.  But honestly this mead left me wanting a little more.  While it was very enjoyable as a wine, it lacked the depth of honey I look for in a mead. I also think this mead could benefit from more forward fruit.  If you have these amazing tropical fruits locally available they should really be the star of the mead.  

B. Nektar - Pineapple Coconut Express

Pineapple Coconut Express by B. Nektar is a pineapple mead with coconut added.  It is part of B. Nektar's B Side Productions; a series of limited release experimental meads.  It is 14% ABV and was available on tap and in 375mL bottles.  

This is a nice, semi-sweet mead, which has some nice white wine characteristics.  It has a medium dryness; nothing is overpowering, the honey, pineapple, or coconut.  The pineapple is actually really well integrated here; there is a nice balance with the honey sweetness and the pineapple shines here.  The coconut give a bit of a oiliness but doesn't add much to the taste.  I personally pick up a bit of alcohol burn, a warming finish so to speak.  However I get that any time coconut is added to a mead. I'm personally not a coconut fan.  I often get a sweet soapy taste with coconut.  This mead did not have that, let me assure you, it was a pleasant, very subtle coconut flavor that again was well balanced in this mead.  

I respect the craftsmanship and restraint that went into making this experimental mead.  I would say if you're a fan of tropical drinks or coconut, this is a very enjoyable mead for you.  

B. Nektar 2017 Release Calendar

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Misbeehavin' - FOMO

FOMO is a buckwheat honey mead made with Dagger Mountain Roastery's abino coffee and aged 10 months in a new American oak barrel.  FOMO is available in 375mL bottles and was released on November 12th, 2016 for $18/bottle; limit 3.

This is a great mead.  Very unique and inventive.  Buckwheat Blossom honey is a perfect fit for barrel aging.  It's a pungent honey that's more malty and has a flavor profile more akin to molasses.  This bigger, bolder honey stands up nicely to the wood of a barrel.  Integrating and balancing nicely the oaky, green woodsy flavors of the barrel.  The coffee is also very well integrated into this mead.  There's not many coffee meads on the market, and very few I've had that have actually worked.  this one works, its works very well.  

The nose is like dark chocolate covered coffee beans.  The taste is like a combination of a sweet cold press with a rye whisky spiciness.  I get burnt/caramelized molasses as well.   The color is a rust, a nice crystal clear reddish-brown.  FOMO is an excellent example of mead experimentation and the balance of coffee and barrel into a mead.