Mead, or honey wine, is one of humankind’s oldest alcoholic beverages – the earliest record comes from China, in 7,000 BC. Its basic ingredients are water, honey and yeast, often with added fruits and spices. Like grape wine, mead can run the flavour spectrum from sweet to dry. And also, like grape wine, mead connoisseurs (yes, they do exist) are fanatical about its every detail.

The drink may be associated with medieval tales, but it is making quite a comeback in New England. There are now more than two dozen meaderies in the six-state US region, and new ones are frequently popping up.

“People get into mead in New England because there’s high-quality honey here,” says Ben Alexander, co-owner of Maine Mead Works in Portland. “There’s good wildflower honey, and also raspberry and blueberry flower honey. Mead is really versatile. It can be sparkly or still. It can be as low as 7% alcohol and as high as 20%. It has qualities of beer and wine.”

He says part of the rise in interest is thanks to the boom in craft beer: “People really care about what they’re drinking now and where it comes from. Mead appeals to that trend.”

It is also enjoying a revival in old England, and Gosnells London Mead in the south-east of the capital, which calls itself London’s first craft meadery, is leading the pack.

Vicky Rowe of mead information website gotmead.com says: “Mead has been around for a very long time but it hasn’t been popular since wine became the main beverage. Now, people are going, ‘wow, what is this new thing? I’d like to try this’ – without thinking that of course it’s not ‘new’ at all.”