metheglin

plural metheglins · alternative methiglum

1. countableuncountableA spiced mead, originally from Wales.

   A more practical critic notes that paleolithic man had a very sweet tooth, which he sated with honey. Worse, he moonshined the honey into metheglin, an alcoholic brew. Booze and junk food, in other words, are hardly modern inventions.

   1985 June 6, “Opinion: Topics: Lean and Rich History: Ancient Eatings”, in New York Times, retrieved 15 Dec 2023, Section A, page A26

   2 more examples

   But Gwen behind the bar said: ‘Try this, mead it is called.’ Reg admired the pure long high front vowel. Sack mead and sack metheglin. A scholarly man, tall and in leggings, his face a map of purple rivery veins, said: ‘Well, it’s the Welsh national drink, or was. Should properly be meddyglyn, liquor being llyn and meddyg from medicus, the healer'.

   1988, Anthony Burgess, Any Old Iron

   In Digbie's era metah, metheglin, and melomel were probably considered synonyms. […] "Melomel" today usually means a mead flavored with any fruit juice other than apples or pears. Peaches, cherries, blackberries, or plumbs^([sic]) are some good, historic choices.

   2001, David Alan Woolsey, Libations of the Eighteenth Century: A Concise Manual for the Brewing of Authentic Beverages from the Colonial Era of America, and of Times Past