Kansas City may be known for their craft beer and wine, but the folks at Kaw Point Meadery want to add mead to the docket.
Mead makers and business partners Daniel Bauer, John Zumalt and Sam Suddarth have been preparing to open Kaw Point Meadery to push the trend forward.
“Mead is about to blow up in Kansas City. A lot of people don't realize how big it's about to be in the next five years,” said Daniel Bauer, CEO of Kaw Point Meadery.
Bauer first started experimenting with mead in his parents' closet.
“I just told them about losing eight gallons to their carpet the other day,” said Bauer.
Now, relocated into his own basement, Bauer, Zumalt and Suddarth have meadmaking down to a science.
“We all work full-time jobs on top of this. We're just trying to get it going,” said Bauer.
Getting it going is exactly what they’re doing, starting with explaining to people what mead actually is.
"Our biggest challenge and our biggest opportunity is education because nobody knows what it is," said Bauer. "We get the opportunity to introduce people to it."
Honey is the main ingredient in mead and they're taking several different types of honey and fermenting them into tasty drinks.
“You can use different malts and different amounts," said Bauer. "You can use them to blend and get different flavor profiles."
No matter your alcoholic beverage preference, Kaw Point Meadery will help you find something to make your taste buds explode.
“We like to ask people, what do you normally like to drink," said Bauer. "Then we'll kind of cater what we give them based on what they normally drink to kind of hit a certain profile.”
Bauer, Zumalt and Suddarth made their first batch as a team in 2013. Thursday, they gave us a look at how it’s all done.
“This is essentially what we call mix day. This is just whenever we dilute honey into the water, and then we will pitch the yeast,” said Bauer.
It will take about 21 days to reach the best part: Pouring yourself a tall glass.
“The thing that makes it the most rewarding for me is watching somebody’s face and seeing them truly enjoy a product that we made,” said Bauer.
The company's mead is also gluten-free.
"We're pulling in a whole entire new crowd of potentially people who maybe their significant other or family likes to drink beer, and they've never been able to partake," said Zumalt.
Before opening up in Kansas City, Kan., Bauer and his team still need to find the right location. Next, they'll take care of all of their licensing and hope to be up and running by early spring of 2018.
5 things to know about mead
- Mead exists in its own category, like cider
- It's quite possibly the oldest alcoholic beverage on earth
- The Vikings would drink mead regularly
- All of Kaw Point Meadery's beverages are gluten-free
- Mead's flavor varies depending on the type of honey, etc.
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