Mead Vs Cider: What's The Actual Difference?

It's staggering to think that most drinks we order today have been around for centuries, if not more. Sure, the $9 grapefruit-flavored IPA you splurged on at your favorite dive last weekend was not around during Julius Caesar's heyday. But beer itself dates back millennia, as does wine. Two more of today's beloved drinks were also invented thousands of years ago: mead and cider.

Mead and cider are fermented beverages that vary in sweetness and alcohol content. They can be served still or sparkling, sweet or dry. And both drinks have experienced a popular resurgence in recent years. But many of the similarities stop there. Known endearingly as "honey wine," mead is crafted from fermented honey, while cider is derived from apples. Mead and cider can also vary in their alcohol by volume (ABV) levels, yielding starkly different outcomes. Here's what you need to know next time you're considering a sip of either one.

Often associated with 16th century taverns, Medieval-style costumes, and jousting reenactments, mead is a drink you might have encountered at a Renaissance Fair, served sweet and syrupy. But mead's history stretches back thousands of years further — and some historians consider mead to be the world's oldest alcoholic drink. A 2004 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences even documented traces of mead in 9,000-year-old northern Chinese pottery jars.

Over the centuries, the practice of fermenting honey has ricocheted around the world. Ethiopia holds an age-old tradition of crafting t'ej, a honey wine concocted with buckthorn leaves. Varieties of mead stretch across eastern Europe and Scandinavia. More recently, mead's popularity has grown in the United States. The American Mead Maker's Association estimates that in 2003, the country contained a mere 60 meaderies. By 2020, that number had ballooned to around 450, with more meaderies reportedly in the works.

The primary ingredients of mead are simple: honey, water, and yeast. Depending on the preference of the mead maker (or mazer), some meads fully embrace their honey-rich origins with bursts of sweetness, while other meads lean to the dry side. To spice things up, mead is often infused with complementary flavors ranging from vanilla and citrus to hops and cinnamon.

For many, it's impossible to hear the word "cider" without thinking of pumpkin patches, hayrides, and steaming cups of cinnamon-tinted apple cider, sans alcohol. While we're big fans of the non-alcoholic fall favorite, that's not the cider we're referring to, here. A sweet hard cider might very well emulate that autumnal taste, but alcoholic cider is far older and more diverse than the stuff you might snag at your local apple orchard every October. Like mead, cider has been around the block, possibly for thousands of years. 

In fact, some researchers trace the drink back to the days of ancient Rome. As the centuries wore on, some historians report, the drink spread through Europe and eventually made its way to the American colonies, where it became an incredibly common beverage — even for children. And while cider's popularity has fluctuated somewhat in recent years, there has been some heightened interest, particularly in local and regional ciders as opposed to more mass-produced brands, according to a 2022 study from market research firm NielsenIQ. 

Cider comes from a simple pair of basic ingredients: apples and yeast. Apples are pressed to extract a fresh juice, which is then fermented for days or possibly weeks. Depending on the cider maker's methodology, cider can emerge apple-forward and sweet. Other ciders hold minimal sugar, or no residual sugar at all, landing firmly in the "dry" category.

The most significant difference between mead and cider is their source material — honey versus apples. Like grapes destined for wine, honey for mead and apples for cider play huge roles in determining the outcome of each drink. And depending on the methodology, you can wind up with a mead or cider that tastes starkly different from its starting ingredients. 

Technically, you can make mead from any run-of-the-mill, store brand honey, but that's generally not the case when it comes to professionally produced mead. Across the United States, for instance, meaderies boast varieties made with wildflower honey, orange blossom honey, and even meadowfoam — a cream-colored honey that tastes slightly like marshmallow. The type of honey used, and the proportion of honey versus water, will ultimately affect the taste, potency and sweetness of the overall drink. 

Similarly, the type of apple used in a cider can affect its final flavor. Some apple varieties, like Kingston Black or Golden Russet, are specific to cider-making, and vary in their levels of sharpness and sweetness. And it's not entirely rare to use crab apples — a smaller, tarter variety of the ubiquitous fruit. Adjacent to apple-based cider is perry, a similarly fermented fruit juice derived from fresh pears.

Under U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau regulations, both mead and cider can legally hold an ABV of up to a whopping 24% — not unlike the alcohol content of a fortified wine. However, it's rare — if not impossible — to see mead or cider with that high of a potency. Still, mead tends to hold a higher ABV than cider. The Beer Judge Certification Program identifies several categories of mead, including hydromel, which hovers below 7.5% ABV — similar to a beer. Then, there's standard mead, which ranges from 7.5% to 14% ABV, similar to a wine, and finally sack mead, which can stretch up to 18% ABV. And, as you might have guessed, the higher the alcohol content, the sweeter the mead.

Cider, on the other hand, tends to hover lower in its alcohol content. A typical dry cider might hold an ABV of 5% or 6%, but some varieties — like New England Style Cider — can hit higher, ranging from 7% to 13%. From there, it's extremely uncommon to see something as potent as a sack or even standard mead. Next time you encounter either drink on a menu, skip your typical glass of beer and try a sip of cider or mead — or try both, and compare.