Havoc Mead Psychopomp Sour Cherry Review

Driving up to to Vermont from Boson, my son decided he didn’t want to be in the car anymore and there was no reasoning with him. We stopped at a gas station to do the whole car seat swing thing to calm him down and get him to go to sleep. As I scrolled the aisles of the convenient store, checking out the local microbrew and cider offerings, a mead caught my eye – It was the Havoc Mead Psychopomp Sour Cherry. It was great to see, since it’s rare to stumble upon a mead in the wild like this, especially because I hadn’t heard of Havoc Mead before. I purchased a four pack of the pint cans, my son calmed down, and we continued on our way.

Upon further review, Havoc Meadery is from Colchester, VT, and it looks as though it is a sub-brand of the previously reviewed Groennfell Meadery. It would be pretty inconceivable at this point that there would be two Meaderies in Colchester, especially since one of the typefaces on the Havoc can is the same one Groennfell uses. It’s a unique font and I really don’t see two disparate mead companies using it (it’s not like its Helvetica). It works fine with the old-Norse style branding for Groennfell, but seems a little out of place on this can, but I’m getting ahead of myself…

Its drinks crisp and balanced. There’s often a tendency with melomels, fruit mead, to push the fruit flavor to the forefront, which often times makes it taste artificial. This one, however has a nice subtle, natural cherry flavor. It’s pretty mellow overall, and at 6.9% abv with light carbonation it is quite refreshing.

I feel as though the mead itself doesn’t fit with the branding at all. The label, with the name “havoc” in its energy drink-esque type, including “psycho” in the name and the aggressive black and red color palette makes me expect big brash flavors. The mead however was pretty even-keeled.

Psychopomp comes from Greek mythology – literally meaning a “guide of souls.” They are creatures, often depicted as anthropomorphic entities, horses, deer, dogs, ravens, crows, owls, or sparrows that help guide the spirit of recently deceased to the afterlife. Hence the raven on the front of the can.

I like the decision to go with the “pounder” pint can – which have become very popular lately for craft breweries. It’s a great choice for the drinkable, lower abv mead.