A prototype of mead (hereafter “haskap mead”) has been completed, made by adding haskap fruit to honey and fermenting it. The color is a little redder than the purple of the haskap fruit itself. The aroma of haskap remains in the mead. The flavor keeps the sweetness and sourness of haskap, but the flavor of the original mead remains. The characteristics of the two ingredients is well balanced.
I got the haskap fruit used as the ingredient from Nakagawa Town located 100km north of Kembuchi Town. Haskap is fruit grown in northern regions such as Hokkaido, Russia, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands. (I have heard that there are a few in the Tohoku region of Japan.) It is said that the Ainu people used to eat it. Currently, it is widely grown in Hokkaido, but the ones cultivated for use as food ingredients are those that have been selected and grown from those that grow wild in the Yufutsu wilderness located east of Chitose City. The tree is about 150 cm tall, is cold-resistant, and can withstand Hokkaido’s winters. It blooms from the end of May to the beginning of June, and bears fruit one month later. Two rugby-ball-like fruits, each about 2 to 3 cm long, grow on the branches in a pair. It has been cultivated in Nakagawa Town for many years. Currently, it is used as an ingredient in jam. It can also be eaten raw. The problem in Nakagawa Town is that the fruit needs a lot of labor to harvest, and the number of people harvesting it is decreasing there. In some years, it is not possible to harvest all the mature fruits. This year, I, Furuya, will help with the harvesting it.
Mead is a simple alcoholic drink made only with honey, water, and sake yeast. This goes well with fruits with a mild flavor, mainly berries. Some fruit mead is fermented with mixed ingredients of honey and fruit (this is legally categorized as “brewed alcohol”). Other fruit mead is a genuine mead with fruit ingredients added after fermentation (this is “liqueur”). Enjoy Dohoku offers the former. The manufacturing process is basically the same as regular mead, and the different ingredients blend well together. When making the liqueur meat, it is necessary to adjust the taste and flavor of the product depending on the type of added fruit. Enjoy Dohoku is the only company that offers haskap mead in Japan (although it is still in prototype form now). As for other companies, Dearlet Field Brewery, which Enjoy Dohoku outsources production of mead, makes fruit meads using blueberry and lychee. Eight Crowns in Miyagi Prefecture makes blueberry mead. A more unusual option is Kanjukuya, which has a store in Asakusa, making mead with spices and the scent of roses.
Mead is a drink that people enjoy the characteristics of the honey used as an ingredient. When fruit is added, you can taste the harmony between the characteristics of the fruit and the honey. Some meads have a strong fruity flavor, while others do not necessarily have. The fun of fruit mead is enjoying these differences. Haskap mead will be ready this summer. Please wait for a while.
Nakagawa City owns this picture of Haskap.
