Considered the ancestor-in-common of all alcoholic beverages, mead at its purest is a fermented blend of water, yeast and honey—the drink is often referred to as “honey wine.” Though meads don’t vary quite as widely as beer styles, they range considerably in body, sweetness, aroma and strength. All meads, however, should appear clear with no particulates, offer harmonious aromas and showcase honey in their flavor. The mead genus includes substyles like metheglins and braggots that are classified according to adjuncts like fruit and spices, but traditional meads are subdivided further into three broad categories—sweet, semi-sweet and dry—based on their levels of residual sugar, or the amount of honey left unfermented. Sweet meads are—you guessed it—the sweetest of the three, offering prominent honey characteristics in the aroma and flavor and high (but never cloying) residual sweetness. Medium to full in body, sweet meads often channel dessert wines with their sweet, full finishes.