Zen Bee Meadery Makes Its New Home in Worthington
Zen Bee Meadery just recently moved to a new production facility and tasting room on East Wilson Bridge Road in Worthington. We chatted with owner Dan DeMura about his meadery, how he got started making it, what he features, and what’s new at the taproom.
For those who aren't familiar with Zen Bee Meadery, how do you describe it?
We are a family-owned and operated business that makes small batch craft mead and cider. While mead/honey wine is technically the oldest alcohol on earth, many people are not familiar with it. So I especially like to explore the many unique flavor combinations that are available with honey and fruits in what are called hyrdromels or session meads because they provide a simple great tasting introduction to mead.
What first got you started in making mead, and how long have you been doing it?
I discovered mead or honey wine back in 2010 at a wine tasting and fell in love with it. I started home brewing and after a few years, and winning first place at the Ohio State Fair homebrewing competition in the mead category, I decided to look into getting my liquor license. We've had our license since about 2018 and have now won about 10 medals/awards for the different meads we make, including the gold medal and best of show at the National Honey Board in 2020.
How many different types of mead does Zen Bee offer? Do you offer anything besides mead as well?
We currently have a dozen flavors of mead on tap at the lower ABV 6.5% level; these are called session meads and drink lighter, more akin to hard cider. We also have four flavors of standard still meads available (at approximately 14% ABV). We have a traditional honey wine made with orange blossom honey and aged in bourbon barrels, then we have an apple-based mead aged in brandy barrels and two Bochet meads (caramelized honey) aged in a rum Barrel, one with coconut and the other with espresso and tiramisu. This coming year we plan to expand our offerings to include more cider products and even a simple white and red wine because my license allows it.
For newcomers to Zen Bee, what are 1-2 meads you recommend trying?
I like making our session meads because they are a very good introduction to people who've never had mead before or even those who've "tried mead before" because the lower ABV session mead drinks differently than what people might be expecting when they think of "mead." We offer flights for people to sample the different flavor combinations and actually get a taste of the varieties available to determine what they like. But two simple flavors I'd suggest to start with would be our Everyberry and Pear of Peaches. The Pear of Peaches is nice crisp and clean; the Everyberry is very berry-forward and is a favorite to many of our customers.
What prompted the move to the new location?
Because we're family-owned and completely self-funded, when I first set out to get a liquor license I had to find a location that I could afford to cover out of pocket. It took us nearly a year to get our license and so you're paying rent month after month just waiting for a license. So our first location from the beginning was too small but it got us started. This past year my wife and I decided to take the calculated financial leap for more production space and a more visible location.
What does the new location offer – both for you and your customers – compared to the old one?
The new location is much bigger than our first one, so personally I was excited about the move because it gives me much more room for production. At the same time it includes enough area for us to set up a full tasting room with 16 taps on the wall and plenty of space for customers to sample flights and glasses of our many different flavors of mead. The new location is on East Wilson Bridge Road where the city has just finished expanding the roads as well as making the area look much nicer. I really like being in Worthington and we're really excited that we found a new home for Zen Bee, but we are hoping we outgrow this space quickly too.
Zen Bee Meadery is currently open Wednesday through Saturday from 4-8 p.m. for tastings, flights, and bottle sales. Find it at: