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The short answer
There is no difference. Mead is honey wine, and honey wine is mead. Both mean an alcoholic drink made by fermenting honey with water. "Mead" is the historical English word; "honey wine" is the literal description and the term used in United States wine regulations.
Why there are two names
Mead is one of the oldest words in the language. It comes from Old English medu, and it has cousins all over the Indo-European family: Welsh medd, German Met, Russian myod (which now just means honey), Sanskrit madhu, even Greek methy, an old word for wine. When a word for a drink is shared from Ireland to India, the drink is very old indeed. Our history of honey wine follows it from Neolithic China to the Norse mead hall.
Honey wine is what you say when the person you are talking to has never heard of mead, which for most of the twentieth century was nearly everyone. It is also how many other languages put it: German Honigwein, Spanish vino de miel. And it is how Ethiopian tej is almost always translated.
What the law calls it
In the United States, wine labels are regulated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Its standards of identity have no separate category for mead. Fermented honey falls under the class of wine made from agricultural products other than grapes, and the designation that goes on the label is honey wine. Producers may use the word mead, but legally the two are the same product, taxed and regulated as wine.
That is why you will often see both on one bottle: "mead" on the front for the enthusiasts, "honey wine" somewhere in the small print for the regulator.
How people use the terms in practice
Although the definitions are identical, the two words have picked up different associations.
| "Mead" tends to suggest | "Honey wine" tends to suggest | |
|---|---|---|
| Image | Vikings, Renaissance fairs, craft taprooms | Wine shops, dinner tables, Ethiopian restaurants |
| Typical style | Sweet, often with fruit or spice | Traditional, dry to semi-sweet |
| Packaging | Anything from cans to swing-tops | 750 ml wine bottle, cork |
| Who uses it | Homebrewers, meaderies, competitions | Wineries, regulators, tej makers |
None of this is a rule. There are bone-dry, elegant bottles labeled mead and sticky-sweet ones labeled honey wine. Treat the name as a hint about the producer's intentions and read the rest of the label for the facts: sweetness, alcohol and ingredients.
Things called honey wine that are not mead
Here is where the terms stop being interchangeable. A few products use the phrase honey wine loosely:
- Honeyed wine: grape wine with honey added. The Romans drank mulsum, wine sweetened with honey, and the Greeks had a similar drink, oenomel. Mulled wine sweetened with honey is a modern descendant. "Honeyed wine" in a history book or a novel usually means one of these. The alcohol comes from grapes, so none of them are mead.
- Honey-flavored wines. Flavored grape wines with honey in the name, such as Stella Rosa Golden Honey Peach, are semi-sweet grape wines with natural flavors. They are aimed at a different moment and a different drinker. If it is the peach-and-honey profile you like, a semi-sweet honey wine is the closest thing in true mead.
- Pyment. When honey and grape juice are fermented together, the result is a legitimate mead style called pyment. The difference from mulsum is that the honey is fermented, not just stirred in.
Honey beer, honey liqueur and other cousins
- Braggot is mead and beer fermented together from honey and malted grain. It is the one common mead style that contains gluten.
- Honey beer is ordinary beer with some honey in the recipe. Most of its sugar still comes from malt.
- Honey liqueur, such as Bärenjäger from Germany or krupnik from Poland, is a spirit sweetened with honey. It is much stronger than mead, usually 30% ABV or more, and is not fermented from honey.
- Distilled mead exists too, sometimes sold as honey spirit or honey brandy.
For how mead compares with grape wine, beer and cider in strength, taste and how it is made, see mead vs wine vs beer.
Ready to taste the real thing? Start with our best honey wine picks, or find out what honey wine tastes like first.
Frequently asked questions
Is honey wine the same as mead?
Yes. Both terms describe an alcoholic drink made by fermenting honey and water. There is no difference in ingredients, process or legal definition.
Why do some brands say honey wine instead of mead?
Mostly to set expectations. Many shoppers associate the word mead with sweet, spiced drinks from Renaissance fairs. Producers making dry or wine-like styles often prefer "honey wine" because it tells a wine drinker what to expect.
Is mead a wine or a beer?
It is closer to wine. It ferments an existing sugar (honey) rather than brewing grain, it is usually wine-strength, and United States labeling rules classify it as honey wine.
What is honeyed wine?
Honeyed wine is grape wine that has been sweetened or flavored with honey, such as the Roman drink mulsum. It is not the same as honey wine: in honey wine, or mead, the alcohol comes from fermenting the honey itself.
What is the difference between mead and wine?
Wine is fermented grape juice and mead is fermented honey and water. They are made the same way and are similar in strength, but mead has no grape tannin and tastes of the flowers the bees visited.
Is tej mead?
Yes. Tej is the Ethiopian style of mead, flavored with gesho. It is often sold in the United States labeled as honey wine.
Is a wine with honey flavor the same as honey wine?
No. A grape wine that has been sweetened or flavored with honey is a flavored wine. In true honey wine the alcohol itself comes from fermented honey.
Which is sweeter, honey wine or mead?
Neither term says anything about sweetness. Either can be bone dry or dessert-sweet. Check the label for words such as dry, brut, semi-sweet or sweet.