Tears for Baldur is a mead made with green tea. This batch has a crisp and light flavor of citrus with subtle floral hints, along with a sharp bitterness.
The name comes from the story of the death of Baldur. Baldur was one of the sons of Odin with his wife, the Goddess Frigg. Baldur was beloved by most and was his mother Frigg's favored son. To protect him, she made all things promise not to harm him, Including the trees, and stones and any other danger she could think of but she overlooked the little mistletoe plant, and never got it's promise. Once the Gods learned of Baldur's invulnerability, they made sport of it by shooting arrows and throwing spears at him. They all missed because the weapons refused to harm him. Loki saw Baldur's blind brother Höðr being left out, and had a plan to spoil the fun. Loki knew Frigg had overlooked the mistletoe and fashioned an arrow from it. Then he offered to help Höðr participate. He would help guide his shot. Höðr used the arrow of mistletoe, and it struck Baldur true.
Baldur died of his wound, and went on to Hel in her realm where she rules the dead. The Gods all mourned their loss for they all loved Baldur, so after his death they sent Hermóðr, another brother of Baldur, to retrieve him from Hel's kingdom. Hermóðr told Hel of how everyone mourned for Baldur, and asked to let him return. Hel agreed to release Baldur only if everyone wept for the slain god. When Hermóðr returned and reported Hel's price, the gods did weep, and Frigg sent messengers to each being telling of Baldur's death, and seeing that they wept Tears for Baldur. Unfortunately one messenger came upon a Giantess who refused to shed a tear. Some say this was Loki in disguise. So Baldur remained With Hel.
The crisp citrus note in the mead are for memory of the shining god Baldur, coupled with the bitterness of his loss. Raise a horn in remembrance, and shed Tears for Baldur.
I started this brew just after the new moon in the cycle of the Cold Moon in December of 2020. This was my 16th batch of mead. I started by heating one gallon of water with 16 green tea bags. After the tea steeped, I removed the tea bags, and dissolved three pounds of honey in the hot tea. After it cooled I measured the original gravity of 1.080 and added 1/4 pack of Champaign yeast and 2 tsp. Yeast Nutrient. I let it ferment completely, and after the Full moon, I racked the mead into another jug, and the final gravity was measured at 0.980. It was left to mellow for many moons before it was finally sampled and bottled. The clarity was hard to maintain, so I tried to filter the mead when bottling with a coffee filter in a funnel. The mead only dripped through and eventually stopped all together. I learned there is no avoiding the loss of the mead at the bottom. You must let the batch settle and gently syphon the clear brew off the top, leaving the sediment behind.
