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The Library — Kennard & Co

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The Library

We write about mead, the history behind it, the craft of making it, and the pleasures of drinking it slowly with a good book. This is The Library.

New articles published irregularly. Quality over frequency.

Ancient books and manuscripts — the history of mead
Featured

History  ·  March 2026  ·  8 min read

The Oldest Drink in the World

On mead, civilisation, and why something this old deserves more respect.

Mead predates wine. It predates beer. There is evidence of its production in China dating back nine thousand years, and in Europe it appears in the earliest written records we have. The Norse drank it in their mead-halls. The Greeks called it the drink of the gods. The Celts brewed it before the Romans arrived. And yet, somewhere along the way, it was largely forgotten. This is the story of how that happened — and why it matters that people are starting to remember.

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A book and a glass by the fire — the ideal reading evening

Culture  ·  February 2026  ·  6 min read

Why Mead is the Ideal Reading Drink

Whisky is too aggressive. Commercial wine is too forgettable. There is a better option.

The question of what to drink while reading is not trivial. The wrong choice is a distraction. Whisky demands attention — its heat and complexity pull you out of the page. Commercial wine is thin and forgettable, gone before you have noticed it. What you want is something that sits quietly alongside the book, present but not intrusive, interesting enough to reward a sip between chapters but not so demanding that it competes with the prose.

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A Cheshire wildflower meadow in summer — the source of our honey

Craft  ·  January 2026  ·  5 min read

Why the Season Matters

How Cheshire wildflowers shape the character of every batch we brew.

Raw honey is not a consistent ingredient. Its flavour changes with the season, the weather, and the particular mix of wildflowers the bees have been visiting. A batch of honey gathered in June from a meadow full of clover and meadowsweet will taste different from one gathered in August from the same hives. That variation is not a problem to be engineered away. It is the whole point.

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"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one."

— George R.R. Martin

Something to drink
while you read.

Order a bottle of Kennard & Co mead. It will still be there when you finish the chapter.

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