The Queen’s Cup of Mead celebrates its third edition

Very few people in Spain are familiar with mead. This fermented drink is still far behind beer and wine in terms of consumption. However, awareness is steadily growing. Proof of this is the Copa Reina, the first mead competition in the Iberian Peninsula, which began in 2019 and this year held its third edition. I had the pleasure of taking part as a judge for commercial meads, although in the first edition I had the opportunity to evaluate homemade ones.

The tasting panel was made up of six tables: three with four judges each for commercial entries, and three with three judges each for amateur entries. The judges’ profiles were varied: professionals from the mead, wine and beer sectors, homebrewers and bloggers. Each table tasted around 20 entries. It is worth noting that the entries did not come only from Spain, but also from Chile, Ecuador, France, Italy, Mexico and Portugal. The internationalization of the championship is a positive sign of good health for the sector.

To evaluate the entries, the judges used an adapted BJCP scoresheet on which they rated the following variables out of 50 points: appearance (6), aroma (15), flavor (16), aftertaste (7) and overall impression (6). When scoring, they followed the “BJCP Mead Exam Study Guide”. Each bottle had a generic label indicating the style, alcohol volume and ingredients.

The entries were organized into four categories: traditional mead, melomel (mead with fruit), metheglin (mead with spices) and experimental meads, those that did not fit into the other categories. There were some very good meads that did not receive outstanding scores because they did not match the style specifications stated on the label. In the end, the highest-scoring meads succeeded thanks to their fidelity to the BJCP guidelines.

For example, in theory, mead is supposed to be crystal clear and bright. In reality, there were cloudy meads that were excellent in all other parameters. Although appearance is the first thing that catches the eye, it only accounts for 12% of the score. Brewers should focus on the aroma–flavor tandem, which makes up 62% of the points.

Overall, the quality level of commercial meads increased significantly over a two-year period. Specifically, we tasted very high-quality melomels with red fruits. We also sampled very interesting barrel-aged offerings. Some even dared to present their own distilled meads in the form of spirits at 40% ABV.

In conclusion, it is encouraging to see how commercial meads are becoming increasingly sophisticated and creative. Looking ahead to future editions, it will likely be necessary to create new categories, as certain sub‑styles such as berry meads are becoming increasingly saturated with references.