A craft meadery and restaurant, Flora De Mel offers a relaxed atmosphere highlighted by quality food and unique drinks. With impressive brunch and dinner menus, the restaurant also hosts regular music and special events.
In 2017, Jay and Stephanie Martin began beekeeping as a hobby. They wanted to find ways to support the honeybee population while simultaneously creating a sustainable business. In 2019, while visiting a small meadery in Western North Carolina, they found their answer. The couple began researching, obtaining equipment, making experimental mead batches, and creating a business plan. It was then that Flora De Mel was born.
Widely thought to be one of the oldest alcoholic beverages and often referred to as the “nectar of the gods”, mead has ancient origins dating back thousands of years. Mead is simply alcohol made from honey. Fermented like wine or cider, honey is used as the primary ingredient. From there herbs, spices, fruits, and berries are added to make unique flavors. Flora Del Mel offers two styles of mead. Session meads, which are refreshing, carbonated, and 7% ABV are available on tap. Barrel-aged products, which are bolder and more complex, are aged in wine and whiskey barrels for six months.
The owners are proud to support Chattanooga-area businesses by incorporating locally sourced ingredients such as coffee from Goodman Coffee Roasters, grapes and cider from Wheeler’s Orchard, ginger and turmeric from Rising Fawn Gardens, and locally sourced fruits and berries. Many of these ingredients can be found in the Blueberry Basil, Good Man, Space Flower, Cosmic Crisp, Wildflower, and Meditatious barrel-aged house meads.
Flora De Mel also offers experimental batches that can be seen fermenting behind the bar. When creating new flavors, the team at Flora De Mel does not shy away from trying new combinations. Jay told us, “We’ve found that trying everything we can think of instead of waiting for the perfect idea is key. The recipes are truly a collaborative effort from the whole Flora De Mel team.”
Flora De Mel continues to expand their reach by providing access to mead outside of their brick and mortar building. Their Airstream, equipped with session meads on tap, has made appearances at events throughout North Georgia and Flora De Mel will be represented this month at Wine over Water. A full list of scheduled events is available on their website.
With their hives still active today, Jay and Stephanie will soon be offering hive sponsorships to increase support and provide more people with access to local honey. For those who find a new passion for mead, Flora De Mel offers a Mead Club subscription. Members in the club receive mead delivered to their doorstep each month. Members also receive access to limited releases to new meads and discounts to special events. Members can pick from three monthly packages: Bronze (2 bottles), Silver (4 bottles), or Gold (6 bottles).
For more information, visit their website at www.florademel.com or join their email list to stay up to date on the Mead Club, special events, tours, and tastings.
