At a glance
- Style
- Melomel
- Alcohol
- About 11.8% ABV
- Finish
- Sweet
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Honey
- Clover (or any honey you like)
- Yeast
- Bread yeast (active dry)
- Ready in
- 2 to 3 months
- Batch
- 1 gallon, scalable
Ingredients
Quantities are for one US gallon (3.8 liters). Pick a batch size and every amount updates; one packet of yeast covers up to six gallons. Not sure how much honey your own twist needs? Use the mead calculator.
- 3.5 lb Honey, clover or your choice
- 1 Large orange, washed (cut into eighths, rind and all)
- 25 Raisins (a small handful)
- 1 stick Cinnamon
- 1 Whole clove (one or two)
- 0.13 tsp Nutmeg and allspice (optional) (a very small pinch of each)
- 1 tsp Active dry bread yeast (the original names Fleischmann's; no rehydration needed)
- 0.65 gallons Water (to fill the jug, leaving room for foam)
Swapping the fruit or changing the amount? Adding fruit to mead covers how much to use per gallon, when to add it and how long to leave it.
Equipment
- 1-gallon glass jug
- Airlock and bung
- Funnel
- Auto-siphon and tubing
- No-rinse sanitizer (Star San)
New to this? Our mead making kit checklist covers what each piece does and what you can skip.
Step-by-step method
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Dissolve the honey
Sanitize the jug and funnel. Dissolve the honey in some warm water and pour it into the jug.
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Add the orange
Wash the orange, cut it into eighths with the rind on, and push the pieces through the neck of the jug.
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Add raisins and spice
Add the raisins, the cinnamon stick, the clove and, if you like, a very small pinch of nutmeg and allspice. Go easy: they are enhancements, not the point.
-
Top up and shake
Fill the jug with cool water, leaving a few inches below the neck for foam. Cap it and shake hard to mix and aerate.
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Add the yeast
Once the must is at room temperature, add 1 tsp of bread yeast. The recipe says you do not need to rehydrate it first. Fit the airlock.
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Put it somewhere dark and quiet
Keep it in a dark spot at ordinary room temperature, around 70°F (21°C). It will foam, sometimes into the airlock: clean the airlock and put it back.
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Leave it alone
No racking, no stirring, no extra nutrients. The recipe is emphatic about this. Fermentation slows over several weeks, the fruit may eventually sink, and the mead clears, usually in about 2 months. If it is not clear, give it longer.
-
Siphon and bottle
When it is clear, siphon it off the sediment and fruit into bottles. It is a sweet, still mead, ready to drink. Our one addition to the original: take two gravity readings a week apart first, and only bottle if they match.
Timeline
- Day 0Mix, add orange, spice and yeast
- Days 1 to 10Vigorous foaming fermentation
- Weeks 2 to 8Slow fermentation, leave it alone
- Month 2Clears; check gravity twice
- Months 2 to 3Siphon and bottle
- Month 3 and onDrink; many find it better at 6 months
Why this recipe works
Bread yeast is the key to the whole recipe. It gives up at a much lower alcohol level than wine yeast, typically somewhere around 11 to 12% in a ferment like this, so from a starting gravity near 1.125 it stops with a lot of sugar left: an estimated 1.035, though bread yeast varies more than wine yeast. That residual sweetness is not a flaw, it is what the recipe is built around.
The whole orange breaks the no-pith rule that most citrus meads follow. Pith is bitter, and in a dry mead that bitterness sticks out. In a sweet mead it reads like marmalade: sweetness and bitterness balance each other. The orange also adds acid, which honey barely has. This is why swapping in wine yeast is the classic way to ruin a JAOM: it ferments much drier and leaves the pith bitterness exposed.
No nutrients goes against everything in our other recipes, and it works here because the bar is lower. The raisins and orange add some nutrients, bread yeast is hardy, and the yeast does not need to finish the sugar, since it is expected to stop early. A ferment that would count as stuck in a dry mead is the intended result in JAOM. The orange and raisins also contribute about 3 of the estimated 125 gravity points.
No racking works because the time on the yeast is short (about two months) and every racking is a chance for infection or oxidation, which are the real risks for a first-time mead maker. The result is not a showcase for fine honey or a competition mead. It is a sweet, spiced, orange dessert mead that almost everyone gets right the first time.
Variations
- Orange blossom honey: the original leaves the honey to you, and orange blossom honey doubles down on the citrus. This is the one change that keeps the recipe itself intact.
- Clementine or tangerine: use two or three small ones instead of the large orange, cut the same way, for a softer, more floral citrus note.
- A modern orange mead (no longer JAOM): use 3 lb honey, 71B yeast, staggered Fermaid O, and the zest and juice of two oranges with no pith. It ferments drier and cleaner. It is a different mead, not an improved JAOM.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| It tastes bitter and harsh | It is either young or it fermented drier than intended (check the gravity; wine yeast or a very warm ferment can do this). Give it time; if it is dry, stabilize with Campden and sorbate and sweeten with honey to taste. |
| It is still cloudy at 2 months | Wait. The recipe says to be patient until it clears, and it usually does. Do not rack or stir it in the meantime. |
| The gravity is still dropping at bottling time | Do not bottle yet, or the bottles can build pressure. Wait until two readings a week apart match, or stabilize with Campden and sorbate first. |
More mead recipes to try
- Spiced mead (metheglin) recipe: Cinnamon, clove, orange and vanilla added by taste in secondary. The holiday mead.
- Cyser (apple mead) recipe: Apple juice replaces the water. Crisp, easy and ready sooner than most meads.
- Session mead (hydromel) recipe: Half the honey, a clean ale yeast and a crisp finish. Drinkable in six weeks, excellent sparkling.
More fruit mead recipes: Strawberry mead, Raspberry mead, Blueberry mead, Blackberry mead, Cherry mead, Peach mead, Mango mead (and pineapple mead), Pyment (grape mead), Elderberry mead, Banana mead, Pomegranate mead, Pumpkin mead, Cranberry mead, Apple pie mead.
Or browse all our mead recipes. If this is your first batch, start with the traditional mead recipe or the step-by-step guide to making honey wine.
Frequently asked questions
What is Joe's Ancient Orange Mead?
JAOM is a simple, widely shared orange mead recipe by Joe Mattioli, made with honey, a whole orange, raisins, cinnamon, clove and bread yeast. It is often the first mead people make because it is so forgiving.
Can I use wine yeast instead of bread yeast in JAOM?
Not if you want JAOM. Wine yeast ferments much further, leaving a drier, stronger mead in which the orange pith tastes bitter. The bread yeast stopping early is what keeps it sweet and balanced.
Why does JAOM not need racking or nutrients?
The recipe is designed to stop sweet, so the yeast does not need to finish all the sugar, and the orange and raisins provide some nutrients. Two months on the sediment is short enough not to cause problems, and skipping racking removes chances for infection.
How long does JAOM take?
About 2 months, when it clears. Many people find it smoother at 6 months, so it is worth hiding a bottle or two.
What is the ABV of JAOM?
Roughly 11.8% ABV, but it varies with the yeast and temperature. Bread yeast is less predictable than wine yeast, so measure the start and finish gravity if you want to know.
Can I make a bigger batch of JAOM?
Yes, scale everything by the number of gallons (one orange per gallon), but ferment each gallon with its own fruit in a wide enough vessel that you can get the orange out.