New canned sparkling mead range from Hive Mind Mead & Brew

Hive Mind Mead & Brew Co. has unveiled a new range of naturally-flavoured sparkling mead in cans.

The new Hive Mind Sparkling Mead range is 4% ABV and comes in four flavours - ginger, elderflower, rhubarb and pure honey. For the first time, it will be available in 330ml cans, sold individually or as a boxed four-pack containing one of each flavour.

Two more flavours, sour cherry and honey & hops will also soon be added to the range.

All of the company’s mead is gluten free, made with natural ingredients and uses British honey, including honey from its own hives in the Wye Valley.

Showcasing their beekeeping heritage, the sparkling mead cans carry new Hive Mind branding, based around colourful honeycomb illustrations, and highlight the approximately 300,000 flowers visited and 50,000 miles flown by bees to make the honey for every can.

The Sparkling Mead is launching on 20 May to coincide with World Bee Day - an international day of awareness in support of these vital pollinators.

“We’ve been creating new meads which have been at the forefront of growing interest in the product here in the UK, pioneering modern styles and changing perceptions of this versatile drink. Modern mead can stand head to head with beers, wines or spirits for its range of flavour profiles, as a base for cocktails or as a different option for food pairing,” Kit Newell, Hive Mind co-founder, said.

“Our new session strength (4%) Sparkling Mead cans have been created to be light and refreshing, flavoured with natural and seasonal ingredients to make them a great summer drink for all occasions. Canning our sparkling mead makes it more portable for outdoor events, easy to chill and it’s a more sustainable option than glass.”

The meadery was launched in 2018 as the Wye Valley Meadery by beekeeping brothers Kit and Matt Newell, and has recently rebranded as the Hive Mind Mead & Brew Co. The brothers have been pioneers in a UK resurgence in mead-making, taking one of the world’s oldest alcoholic drinks and creating new modern styles from session-strength light and refreshing sparkling meads through to stronger, more traditional wine-style and barrel-aged meads.

“As beekeepers, we understand the importance of protecting nature, supporting pollinators, creating sustainable products and working as part of the community. Our new Hive Mind brand highlights our beekeeping heritage and shares our company’s mission to help the honeybees through the honey we make and our low impact, low intervention approach to brewing, ” Kit added.

The Hive Mind Sparkling Mead range will be available nationwide from independent retailers, delis and farm shops.

Other Hive Mind products include wine-style Traditional Mead, Oak Whiskey Barrel-Aged Traditional Mead and honey beers including a 3 Star Great Taste Award-winning Smoked Honey Porter, a honey pilsner called ‘Nectar’ and a pollen-infused hazy pale called ‘Pollinator’.