On The Crush List because…
Oh, honey.
Mead. You probably don’t say that word very often. Unless of course you’re an Assassin’s Creed gamer. Or a Harry Potterhead. Or a Renaissance Faire performer. Or a Ringer. Or one of those folks with a particular interest in the life and times of Pliny the Elder.
Now I’m in trouble. With every intention to write about mead, I’ve once again spun myself all off on a research tangent. Pliny the Elder is fascinating! Did you know that he died trying to save people from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius? And that he basically invented the encyclopedia? Heck, he kind of invented the whole Internet if you really think about it. But who even knows this? Perhaps if his parents had named him Leonardo Da Vinci instead of Pliny he’d be getting the recognition he very clearly deserves.
For all of us who love our interior design, here’s an interesting nugget: Pliny the Younger (the Elder’s nephew) was a wealthy lawyer who amassed a collection of elaborate villas during his lifetime, including two on George Clooney’s Lake Como. If you need any inspiration for the design of a hippodrome or a cryptoporticus, or if your client just saw Foxcatcher and has asked you to build her a duPontian xystus, you’re going to want to get your hands on the Garden Letters of P the Y.
Now back to mead. Next time you’re out in the Round Top neighborhood, please take the side road over to the Rohan Meadery. Even better, like them on FB and when they post a live music event mark it on your calendar. Bring the kids. And the camera. Wear costumes. Or not. Skol!
