Where to Buy Mead in the UK: Styles, Producers and Shops

Mead is much easier to buy in the UK than it once was, but the word now covers everything from rich, still honey wine to light sparkling cans. The easiest way to choose well is to decide how you want to drink it, then check the producer’s current description, ABV, bottle size and delivery terms.

This is a buying guide, not a permanent stock list. Small-batch releases sell out, seasonal bottles return irregularly and prices change. Availability below was checked on 11 October 2026.

Quick choices for a first bottle

Rich and wine-like: start with a still traditional mead at roughly table-wine strength.
Light and refreshing: choose sparkling or session mead in a bottle or can.
Fruit-led: look for melomel, cherry, berry or rhubarb mead.
Warming and spiced: look for metheglin or a clearly described spiced mead.
A Scottish producer: see the carefully verified Scottish mead guide.
A Christmas gift: check the dated Christmas mead guide.

UK producer shops checked in 2026

Hive Mind Mead & Brew Co, Wales

Hive Mind began as Wye Valley Meadery and sells direct with UK delivery. Its current range spans full-strength Wye Valley Traditional Mead, barrel-aged and small-batch bottles, plus lighter sparkling meads and Honeyade.

This is a useful starting point when you want to compare traditional and modern session styles from one producer. The traditional bottle is the more wine-like choice; the sparkling products are closer to a chilled craft drink.

Lancashire Mead Company, England

The Lancashire Mead Company shop lists a broad selection of meads, including traditional, fruit, floral and spiced interpretations. The range changes, so use each product page for current sweetness, strength and serving information rather than assuming that every Norse-inspired name indicates the same style.

Read our background page on The Lancashire Mead Company.

Lyme Bay Winery, Devon

Lyme Bay Winery is a long-established source of widely distributed still meads, including traditional and fruit-flavoured bottles. Its range also includes the Scottish-origin Moniack Mead brand following Lyme Bay’s acquisition of Highland Wineries.

Lyme Bay’s Christmas Mead was available from the winery when checked, but seasonal stock should always be verified.

The Rookery, Perthshire

The Rookery makes seasonal craft meads using honey as the principal fermentable and ingredients associated with the Scottish landscape. Availability can be limited and some third-party listings show sold-out products, so check the producer’s channels or listed independent stockists before planning a purchase.

See The Rookery and our Scottish mead guide for context.

Gosnells, London

Gosnells helped establish lower-alcohol, sparkling mead as a modern UK drinks category. Check its current online range and stockist information if you want a lighter, chilled alternative rather than a dessert-wine-style bottle.

Choose by style

Traditional still mead

“Traditional” generally means that honey, water and yeast provide the core fermentables, though individual producers may differ in sweetness and technique. It can be dry, medium or sweet. Read the actual tasting notes: the word does not guarantee a sugary drink.

Still traditional mead works well for slow sipping, food pairing and gifts. Wine-sized 70cl or 75cl bottles are common, while half bottles and gift sizes also exist.

Fruit mead

Fruit mead is often called melomel. Cherry, berry and rhubarb can add acidity that balances honey sweetness. Some products use fruit during fermentation; others may blend or flavour after fermentation, so consult the maker if production method matters to you.

Explore melomel and fruit-flavoured mead and Lyme Bay fruit meads.

Spiced mead

Spiced mead is often called metheglin. Cinnamon, ginger, cloves and other botanicals can suit colder weather, but intensity varies enormously. A Christmas label may indicate a seasonal spice blend rather than a distinct production method.

Read more about metheglin and spiced mead.

Sparkling and session mead

These lighter drinks are usually served cold and may have an ABV closer to beer or cider than wine. Cans and smaller bottles are common. They are a good introduction for someone who associates traditional mead with heavy sweetness.

See the sparkling mead guide.

Mead liqueur and honey-flavoured drinks

A drink made with mead can be enjoyable without being straight mead. For example, Friary’s current Christmas product is described as a liqueur made with mead, French brandy and spices. Likewise, some traditional UK “mead” brands have production methods or wine bases that differ from newly fermented craft mead.

Check the product’s legal name, ingredients and producer description if you specifically want alcohol fermented primarily from honey. We distinguish liqueur, honey wine and fermented mead where reliable information is available rather than treating one category as automatically superior.

Sweet, medium or dry?

Sweetness labels are helpful but not perfectly standardised. Before ordering:

Read the maker’s tasting notes.
Look for explicit “dry”, “medium” or “sweet” wording.
Check whether acidity, fruit, oak or carbonation may balance sweetness.
Ask the producer when the page does not say.

High ABV does not necessarily mean dry, and a pale colour does not necessarily mean light-bodied.

Where else to look

Buy direct from a meadery

Direct shops usually offer the freshest availability information, limited releases and mixed cases. Check minimum order, delivery area, age-verification and shipping cost before comparing prices.

Specialist online drinks shops

Specialist beer, wine and historical-gift retailers may combine several producers in one delivery. Stock can be useful but sporadic. Verify the bottle size: a cheap-looking listing may be a miniature rather than a full bottle.

Independent bottle shops, farm shops and markets

Local retailers can provide advice and avoid delivery fees. Small meaderies also use food festivals, medieval events and Christmas markets. Contact the producer or shop before making a special journey.

Amazon and marketplaces

Marketplaces may be convenient, but compare the seller, dispatch date, bottle size and current producer price. Product pages can outlive the stock or even the product. Links on individual Traditional Mead UK reviews may be affiliate links and are marked under our Affiliate Disclosure.

Before you buy

Check these six details:

What is it? Mead, honey wine, sparkling mead or a liqueur made with mead?
How strong is it? Session cans and still wine-style meads are very different drinks.
How much is included? Compare price per bottle only after checking volume.
How sweet is it? Use explicit tasting notes, not the label artwork.
How should it be served? Chilled, room temperature or gently warmed?
Is it actually in stock? Seasonal and small-batch pages can remain indexed after selling out.

Explore by region and occasion

Want to make rather than buy it? Start with the beginner’s 4.5-litre mead recipe.

Availability reviewed 11 October 2026. This page does not claim to list every active UK producer.