Staff Pick

Axum Tej Honey Mead - NV

Name: Axum Tej Honey Mead
Brand: Axum Tej
SKU: 63636
Price: 16.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Item # 63636 750mL

Fermented from honey, mead is perhaps the earliest alcohol that humans imbibed. Ethiopia is Africa's largest producer of honey and the locals use some of it to make a style of mead called tej. What distinguishes tej is the addition of gesho, a plant which adds a pleasing bitter taste to balance sweetness and impart flavor.

$16.99/ Single Bottle

$203.88 $183.49/ Case of 12

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Color

White

Vintage

Country

USA

Region

New York

Producer

Axum Tej

Grape Variety

Honey

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Staff Pick Notes

Tej showcases honey wine's true potential. I find that many wine-lovers write off mead as being saccharine and unsophisticated; not the case with Tej! What distinguishes Tej from other meads is the addition of the herb gesho, a relative of hops native to Ethiopia where Tej is brewed widely. This tempers the sweetness of the honey with a bitter herbal finish and provides a tannic backbone. The result is a refined, relatively dry mead that is influenced as much by the technique of the brewer as the terroir of the honey. Ethiopian dishes are best enjoyed in a restaurant. But Tej would pair just as well at home with curry or other Indian cuisine, owing to the Indian Ocean spice trade with the Horn of Africa.

- SJF

Glossary

New York

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