Trafalgar Tropical Mead Review

Yes, you read it right, this is a bottle of tropical flavored mead, the first mead review on this site. I was returning a mountain of empty bottles to the beer store and while waiting for the gentleman at the cash register to count the hundreds of bottles taking up the entire conveyor, I noticed a bunch of bottles of mead offered for $12.95 per pop. I have had mead in the past, but never out of a bottle so I decided I should spend some of my return money (yes, only some) on a bottle. I went with the tropical mead, simply because I have had the other flavors. You see, this past summer, I spent quite a bit of time at the Trafalgar Meads and Ales tent at the Beer Fest in Toronto, sampling everything they offered that day.

When my bottles were counted up, I requested a bottle of the tropical mead, and after waiting for what seemed 5 whole minutes, a dust covered bottle was brought out from the back. I don't think many people buy these bottles since it took a long time for the staff to find one and when I got it, it had a thick layer of dust...yes, very thick. I didn't care, I took the bottle and wiped it down at home.

Now, onto the review. I rarely take photos of poured beers, simply because I am too lazy to do so while drinking, but this was a special occasion - the first mead review. So I grabbed the closest thing, which happened to be an Innis & Gunn glass, and poured myself some mead. The mead came out with a lot of carbonation, which quickly filled the glass with hissing foam. Luckily, the foam was so bubbly that it all receded in seconds and allowed me to second-pour and then third-pour and so on, until I finally had a glass that was 3/4's full. As seen in the photo, the mead is a bit hazy, very bubbly, and has a pale straw color which does resemble some tropical juices. The aroma is of fermented tropical juice, though not as pungent. The taste is fairly strange and not as sweet as some of the other mead I have had. There is a bit of sweetness, but overall this tastes like a combination of dry champagne, a bit of tropical juice and a splash of gin. The finish is mostly clean, though there traces of alcohol and slight bitterness.

Overall I enjoyed the mead, though I would rather spend the $12.95 on a 6-pack of good beer or a few rarer craft brews/imports.

Scores:
Cost - $12.95 for a 650 mL bottle from The Beer Store
Taste - 7.8/10
ABV - 9%

Overall - 7.8/10...clean, somewhat refreshing, different