Bengaluru holds the distinction of being one of the oldest hubs for experiments whether in music, dance, cuisines and fashion. The culture of the city serves as a perfect platform for innovation and this is exactly what entrepreneurs Rohan Rehani and Nitin Vishwas have done. They came up with a mead where honey, fruits and spices form the main base. These have antioxidant properties, much like red wines, say the founders. In an interview with DH, Rohan and Nitin talk about how they struck upon the idea and more.
How did you come up with the idea of blending honey and alcohol?
Rohan Rehani: It’s actually not a blend but more a wine-like beverage made by fermenting honey with fruits and or spices. The interesting part is that the concept isn’t new at all, and we definitely didn’t come up with it! Mead is the oldest fermented beverage known to mankind, with evidence dating back to 7000 BC. Meads have been present in various cultures through the ages - the Vikings drank it before battle, ancient Indian texts mentioned it and Greek and Roman historians have discussed it. There have also been numerous references in literature, from Shakespeare and Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter and even Game of Thrones. It was in the 17th Century that Mead started losing its popularity, one, due to sugar being much cheaper and easier to access - hence honey was used less and harder to obtain and two, with the onset in popularity of other spirits, wine and beer - all of which were much easier and cheaper to make compared to Mead too. We have attempted to bring back Meads in a modern avatar. Our Meads are carbonated, semi-dry and refreshing.
What kind of research did you do to get this beverage?
Nitin Vishwas: Our first source of information came from Reddit. We read voraciously online and managed to get some books on mead making. When followed then was a lot of experiments in the kitchen and tasting sessions with friends and family. While meads are high ABV like wine in most countries, in India, we haven’t really embraced wines. Hence we were skeptical of making it like the west has. Hence we lowered the alcohol, started to blend familiar fruits and spices and most importantly, started to carbonate our beverage. And even today, that culture of experimenting hasn’t stopped and we have gone on to naming all these experiments aka small batch releases as MeadLABs.
Does the drink have any health benefits?
Nitin Vishwas: Meads have antioxidant properties, much like red wines. Historically, though, Mead has been believed to be healthy to both drink as well as to make into healing tonics. The mead of preference in ancient times was one infused with spices or herbs, using the sweet drink to mask some other flavors. The term metheglin, spiced mead, comes from a Welsh word which, in turn, came from the Latin word “medicus,” or medicinal liquor. These drinks were used to cure all manner of illnesses, of the time. All our Meads from Moonshine are gluten-free and contain less than 200 calories per pint.
Why is there a sudden demand for non-alcoholic drinks?
Nitin Vishwas: We do not make any non alcoholic beverages as of now - but what our consumer insights show, and this could fit the non alcoholic beverage space as well - is that consumers have become more discerning in their choices of drinks, people prefer more flavourful beverages as compared to bitter ones, they care about the ingredients that go into their beverages - we use natural ingredients only, whether that be the honey, fruits, spices - it makes a difference in how the final product comes out and that is a huge reason why our ardent consumers stick with us.
What are some of the other flavors you have? Could you talk about the mix?
Rohan Rehani: We have three flagship flavours of Mead which are available throughout the year - The Apple Cyder Mead, Coffee Mead and the Traditional Mead. Apart from these we have Meads we make seasonally and in small batches through the year, we call these MeadLABs. The Guava Chilli Mead, Salted Kokum Mead and Christmas Apple Pie Mead are a few to name.
What is your expansion plan? How many cities are you planning to venture into?
Nitin Vishwas: We’re currently available in Maharashtra, (Pune is our homebase - where our Meadery is located), Goa, Assam, Rajasthan. And we are working on opening Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and a few other markets in the coming months.
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