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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Dragon's Blood

On Sunday we racked the mead that has been bubbling away in the den for the past month into a few small secondary containers. At first we were concerned about using several small containers over one larger one, but after some discussion and ideas on how eventually to proceed, I think we’re both happier with the decision. Because the mead is entirely experimental, we’ll likely bottle it in shifts letting some of it age longer in the jugs. We did give it a sample after racking and mostly it tastes like sour (think lime) alcohol that has a slight effervescence. It has a beautiful color –from the pomegranate juice– and seems to be aging nicely.

I dubbed it (rather greedily) Dragon’s Blood, because it is red in color and because mead makes me think of the cartoon Flight of Dragons that came out in the early 1980’s and was a favorite of mine as a child. In one particularly memorable scene, the two main dragon characters drink their way through an entire cellar of mead (while traveling to the castle of the ‘bad wizard’ Omadon) and share a rousing chorus of Oh Susanna!

...and while not trying to question something this simple, the movie itself rests on the idea that the human world must choose between science and magic. So, is it wrong to call what is essentially a science experiment dragon’s blood?

3 comments:

Unknown said...
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Anonymous said...

doh... real names being used on the open web! security breech!!!

Unknown said...

Editted per Joh...I mean Westy's comment

Cool, let me know it turns out. I've been wanting to try a mead but have been hesitant because of the long fermentation period, I have no patience when it comes to brewing.

As for calling a science experiment Dragon's Blood....Usually people go with their name (e.g. Heisenberg uncertainty principle) but I see nothing wrong with combining fiction with non-fiction. Dragon's Blood sounds way cooler than "Your Last Name Here" Blood.