3.9/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 4
Flavor 4
Texture 4
Overall 3.5
Draught at Sunset Grille, 12/20/2005. Clear straw to pale gold, almost a chardonnay-like color, but with a hint more orange tones. Fully diminishing cluster of bubbles and flimsy legs left behind. Aroma of dry, powdery cinnamon and old, plasticy vanilla extract (though I see the whole ingredients are used). Little in the way of honey emanating in the nose, almost a straw-like dryness. Flavor is papery cinnamon sticks, in flavor and in texture. Vanilla is flavorful, yet tremendously drying. Watery, straw-steeped-in-water sort of effect (must be the alfalfa) that is flimsy, not complex at all (I get barely any mead from this, just touches of light yeast dryness, vanilla and cinnamon). The only sweetness is a cheap, alcopop like candy/sugar. Stale and watery, though not sharp and fuselic for the 12 abv. Large, overly expansive bubbles further harry the palate and break up the flavors. In my mind, an analogy to beer makes this a spice/herb/vegetable beer that concentrates too much on the spices, letting slide the beer aspect. And even the spicing does not seem authentic and particularly well-done. Love to try it from the bottle though, looks like it is much better in that form (not surprisingly).
Tried
from Can
on 29 Dec 2005
at 23:30
5.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 5
Draught at Sunset Grille on 12/20/2005. Pours a quite clear golden-copper, gentle effervescence rising to create a brief wisp of bubbles and then gone. Very poor legs left behind. Aroma is dry straw, lightly sour/tart yeast notes and a slightly sweet touch of peach and apricot skin. Honey is not overbearing in the nose, perhaps even a bit lacking, adding a light candyish note, although somewhat old/stale it seems. Flavor is not what I would have expected. It is not a ripe, juicy, sugary sweetness from the fruit as some meads will do, but rather a dry, lightly tart and mildly acidic apricot skin-like flavor, mixed with an almost citrus zest like note and a touch of tangy honey and yeast. Touches of hard candy on the end, with dry, tart fruit, but the tartness/dryness leaves an empty feeling as the texture is slightly loose, unremarkable, you might say. Alcohol (such that I am used to) is well-concealed, but that strange tartness thing has a sharp quality to it that rather cuts the palate unpleasantly. I guess they are going for a dry effect overall, but I don’t think a little bit of sweet residual honey or fruit sugars would hurt.
Tried
from Can
on 29 Dec 2005
at 23:17
5.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
On tap at Redbones and then bottled at Sunset Grille. Having tried this twice now, I can definitely say it’s not a syrupy, cloying mess of a fruit mead. Quite dry, though still very up front with the raspberry flavor. The finish is probably the best part now, with a pure honey shot, light farmy/grassy notes and some light alcohol tones. A strawberry rhubarb to light chartreuse in the glass, it is actually on the lighter/thinner side for a mead, leaving less than substantial legs. Still a touch of bubbles left in it. Dosent seem fully polished and rounded yet, probably due to its young age. Has that sharp, yeast biproduct flavor that tastes kind of mineralesque and kind of like household chemicals (I’m guessing it’s a yeast biproduct, though it could be something else, but it does seem to appear in young meads). Bit of orange rind and cinnamon, fairly loose overall, but still respectable and has a clear and pleasant dose of honey in it.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Sep 2005
at 10:04