Hive Mind Mead & Brew Company Is Proving The Need For Real Mead!

2025 has been a big year for Welsh fine mead evangelists, Hive Mind Mead & Brew Co, an award-winning rural business with a clear agenda to reignite the fortunes of Britain’s honey-inspired tipple mead, that incidentally predates beer and wine, whilst also doing their bit to reverse the nation’s declining bee numbers.

This rural economy pioneer built as a result of two brother’s shared love of beekeeping and homebrewing was recently welcomed within The Small Biz 100 stable for 2025, a nationwide, grass roots movement that celebrates the tireless efforts of small businesses that make meaningful differences to both their local communities and the wider economy.

Back in 2019 It was the inability of the two brothers to sell their locally produced honey at local Farmer’s Markets against a backdrop of cheap, often bulked out supermarket offerings of imported honey, that convinced them to pivot into a range of sustainably sourced honey-themed beverages that showcased best-in-class, Welsh honey.

Six years down the line and Hive Mind produces a wealth of honey-inspired beverages, ranging from from traditional-style ‘fantastic with food’ meads to lower 3.4% ABV sparkling meads that positions mead as a worthy ‘sipping in the sunshine’ alternative that satisfies the evolving needs of health-conscious audiences looking for natural, sustainable alternatives.

In each instance, the motives are consistent, namely to champion locally-produced honey, get behind local beekeepers and the wider Welsh countryside whilst fostering mead’s increasingly contemporary and experimental reputation.

At a time when a number of novelty meads continue to make hay (made with sugar, white wine and artificial flavourings), Kit & Matt were determined to turn the clock back to a time when mead was simply about honey, cultured yeast, water and whatever in-season fruits and spices might be on hand to create an array of delicate yet distinct flavour profiles.  Winning the Golden Fork Award for Wales in 2023 for their flagship traditional mead, was proof that doing things authentically is the right course of action and reflected in the quality and taste of the final product.

Although Hive Mind & Mead already has enviable online loyalist following, a proud National Trust listing and a supportive nationwide network of Top Michelin star restaurants that are behind mead’s re-emergence, there’s no question that this Summer’s headline M&S listing of their modern sparkling meads might well be a step change moment in terms of mead’s more mainstream acceptance.

If reviving mead’s fortunes wasn’t enough, this Summer’s launch of Hive Mind’s NEW 4-strong offer of all-natural, honey-inspired soft drinks (honeyades) has worked tirelessly to reverse the tired, chemistry set perceptions of soft drinks, offering something truly fresh and innovative in a world jam-packed with artificial sweeteners and refined sugars.