Metheglin Spiced, Medicinal Mead

RecipeMakes 1 Gallon

• 2.5 lbs of honey
• Handful of raisins
• 1/2 peel of citrus fruit (ideally without pith)
• 1 finger ginger; grated
• 1 tsp loose leaf tea
• A few whole cloves
• 1/4 tsp alehoof (optional)

Bring 4 cups of water to boil, add the raisins, citrus peel, grated ginger, and tea, and let boil for a few minutes. Remove from heat and let steep for up to half an hour. Once cooled, pour the strained "tea" into your fermenter. Alternatively, you can simply chop up the ingredients and put them into the fermenter without boiling them, which will produce subtle differences in flavor.

Add the honey to your fermenter, then fill with water up to half way. Shake the fermenter vigorously to dissolve the honey and aerate the must. Add water to fill most of the way, leaving some headspace in case it foams up. Add the yeast of your choice, and shake to incorporate. Finally, install an airlock, and store in a cool, dark place.

Once fermentation is complete, rack into another vessel for batch conditioning (also called secondary fermentation) or directly bottle.