Teucke & Koenig Bären Met (Bären Met)

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 2 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 2 | Overall: 2

Worst swill that has ever past my lips, what a waste of time and money. Looked clear and like yellowy apple juice. The aroma was barn yard chemical crap, so fucking sweet smelling, ammonia?!?!?!?!? Why is that sent in there, the smell alone is making me want to gag. Taste is of alcohol, honey gone horribly bad, and once again ammonia, this is rancid, sickenly sweet, taste like shit. I’m tried to force myself to drink the entire bottle but I couldn’t do it dumped the last bit of it out, woke up the next day with a killer hang over. I got zero enjoyment out of this, I’m not a fan of meads to start with but this one was in a class of swill all its own. Worst 20 buck I ever spent, every time I see it at the beer store I cringe and my stomach clenches, If I could score this negative in some categories I would. PURE SHIT, I HATE YOU BAREN MET MEAD!!!!!!!!!!!

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

First impression was pretty rough - mmmmbeer hammered and trying to polish off a bottle of this stuff. I'd have to say that it smelt and tasted really nasty, but I've done a 180 on this mead. Aroma is very very sweet. A huge ammount of honey has been stuffed into this killer looking bottle that has a beehive shaped cap and a picture of a bear trashed and obviously enjoying a bottle of the mead with bees circling around. Excellent glass bottle too (see the pic when it gets loaded). Infact, it's almost entirely honey with some obvious floral notes. Why eat honey when you can get wobbly by drinking it? The mead is totally clear and gold with absolutely zero carbonation. It does leave very nice 'legs' on my glass. Taste is suprisingly good and the more I drank - well, sipped, cause you can't take much at a time - the more I liked it. I went from cringing to figuring out how brutal my headache would be in the morning if I could manage to consume the entire bottle in one sitting. Thick honey flavour and an obvious vinous quality suprisingly similar to an ice wine (I'm not saying this is in the same category as an ice wine or directly comparable to one either). The 15% is mainly notable when breathing in but is noticable during every taste. The alcohol is there during the sips but usually is not overwhelming and allows the very sweet honey flavour to dominate. It has wine-like qualities, no question there. Mouthfeel is quite full with the mead being near to full bodied, very smooth and somehow, although tasting and appearing quite thick, it is not overly syrupy and doesn't leave a coating on the mouth. The mead is 100% flat too which is probally a very good thing at 15% alc. The aftertaste is honey and it is extremely lengthy at a mild level. Somehow I'm really enjoying this and can actually see myself picking up another bottle. It will be interesting to see how this fares against other meads locally available. An excellent sipper if you are into that kind of drink...and if you can stomach drinking liquid honey with a kick.