Wild Blossom Meadery & Winery takes locally sourced ingredients seriously.
Mead– one of the oldest forms of alcohol made from honey, water, and yeast– has regained popularity in recent years. One of the businesses behind that renaissance is the Wild Blossom Meadery & Winery in Beverly. Chicago’s only meadery (for now; Second City Meadery is currently under construction), Wild Blossom raises its own bees in hives around the city and gets its water straight from the Great Lakes. Yay, locally sourced ingredients!
Wild Blossom first opened its doors in 2001 and was the only meadery in IL at the time. The meadery and winery prides itself on its locally-sourced ingredients, with about 100 hives in the Chicagoland area. That might seem like a lot until you realize one bee makes about 1.5 tsp of honey in its lifetime and it takes about 50 million bees to make one pound of honey which is equal to one bottle of Wild Blossom mead. That’s a lot of buzzing around!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8YvYNQnmPj/
You can find a number of different flavors of mead at Wild Blossom including beverages fermented with other ingredients like berries, spices, fruits, and herbs. Chicagoans may enjoy Wild Blossom’s city-themed flavors like South Side Sangiovese and Chicago Bulls Blood. Other flavors include Chocolate Honey Buzz, Sleep Drifter made with passionfruit and cardamom, Apple Cin, and Pirates Blood made with hot chilis!
Want to learn more about how mead is made? Wild Blossom has guided meadery tours, educational events, and tasting rooms open daily. You can call 773-840-4642 to book a private tour for eight people or more. The meadery also has annual and quarterly subscription clubs with four selections of mead each quarter shipped to you or available for pick-up.
Mead from Wild Blossom Meadery & Winery is a sustainably sourced beverage choice you can feel good about because it supports local beehives. “When you buy honey wine from us you’ve planted the seeds for millions of new flowers and re-invested in our local community,” says Wild Blossom.
Practical information
Feature photo by Kai Wenzel on Unsplash