The pair have been around for centuries, with mead believed to be the oldest alcoholic drink in the world, dating back to approximately 6,500 B.C. in Asia and around 2,500 B.C. in Europe.

The earliest archaeological evidence for mead comes from 9000BC in northern China; in Europe, the first traces date to 2800-1800BC. Mead also appears in classical literature, memorialised in the ...

Varieties of mead stretch across eastern Europe and Scandinavia. More recently, mead's popularity has grown in the United States. The American Mead Maker's Association estimates that in 2003 ...