Places to Enjoy Local Meads in North Georgia

🍯 North Georgia mead tastings bring honey wines into cozy tasting rooms, vineyard settings, and shops filled with local flavors. Mead starts with fermented honey, but the glass might hold something dry and floral, fruity and sparkling, or rich with barrel-aged flavors.

🥂 We’ve enjoyed exploring these places, from comparing meads at Etowah’s bar to watching the bees at Tesnatee and relaxing with JumpinGoat’s mountain view. Explore the stops below to choose an outing for your group, whether the priority is trying several meads, bringing your dog, or spending an afternoon with a mountain view.

🍯 Plan time beyond your tasting if you want to look for the queen at Tesnatee, catch live music, or shop for honey to bring home.

🍯 Get to Know North Georgia Mead

🍯 Honey is the starting ingredient in mead. At Tesnatee River, you can continue exploring local honeys next door at Allison’s Honey’s self-serve shop. Honey shopping and the indoor hive keep the connection to the bees in view, while other tasting rooms add mountain scenery, live music, or a market full of treats to take home.

Mead does not have to be sweet, and it does not have to be still. 🍯 Tell the person pouring what you usually drink, then ask about the sweetness, carbonation, and alcohol strength of your choices. A flight is a useful way to sample several flavors when several catch your eye.

Start with the sweetness, bubbles, and strength you prefer, then ask the person pouring to help you choose a flight. 🥂

🍯 Once you have those preferences in mind, narrow down the flavors: floral honey, tart berries, citrus, herbs, spices, or richer barrel-aged notes. Tell staff what you like, and make a note of the meads you would order again.

🍾 Before buying a bottle, ask how the producer recommends serving it, pairing it with food, and storing it after opening.

🗺️ Map of North Georgia Mead Stops

Use the map to compare mead stops with your route. Its menu also includes winery and cider layers. You can also 🗺️ open the larger map →.

🍯 North Georgia Meaderies and Mead Producers

🐝 These three stops make their own meads. Compare what is pouring, ask about the honey behind the flavors, and leave time to enjoy the setting.

🍯 Etowah Meadery • Dahlonega

Etowah’s Highway 52 East tasting room has couches, leather seating, a covered porch, and outdoor picnic tables. Sitting at the bar gave us time to compare drinks and chat with one of the owners about getting the new location up and running. 🐝 The honey theme continues beyond the glass, with honey for sale and a sampling station during our visits.

Recent favorites included Rabbit Tracks, Mead-Ahh-Rita, and Cane Break. The menu includes traditional and barrel-aged meads, sparkling options, and Etowah-made grape wines. For the complete experience, seating photos, and current menu details, read our Etowah Meadery guide. 🍷

🥂 Choose individual 0.5 oz tastes, a half flight of six 1 oz pours, or a full flight of six 2 oz pours. Check current prices when ordering.

🐕 Dogs are allowed, with a posted reminder to leash them and clean up after them. Etowah no longer offers its former “Dahlonega Brewery” beer lineup and currently has no live music. Visit Friday through Sunday, 11 am–6 pm. Hours may change seasonally.

🐝 Tesnatee River Winery & Meadery • Cleveland

Tesnatee’s indoor observation hive is a memorable part of visiting. We enjoyed looking for the queen and watching the bees, then tasting what honey becomes in the glass. 🐝🍯 Seeing the bees adds another connection between the farm and its meads.

Try the current mead and wine selections, then browse Allison’s Honey’s self-serve store next door for something to take home. Live music adds another reason to plan a visit around the event calendar. Our earlier visits included a complimentary bread basket, but ask what food is available that day before counting on it for your plans. The Tesnatee River guide has more photos from our visits.

🐕 Leashed dogs are welcome. Check current seating arrangements when planning a visit with your dog.

🐝 The indoor observation hive rotates to show both sides. Look through the clear front to watch the bees and try to find the queen. The bees can come and go from the hive outdoors. Ask staff about the display, then explore the honey for sale next door at Allison’s Honey.

🍇 Hightower Creek Vineyards • Hiawassee

🍯 Hightower Creek makes its own meads as well as grape wines. Its mead collection includes off-dry Fields of Yore, mint-and-lavender Druids Blend, cinnamon-and-cherry Dragons Breath, and pearwood-smoked Toasty Knight. Ask which are pouring when you arrive.

The vineyard setting adds a reason to linger after tasting. 🌄 Compare the mead and wine selections, then leave time to enjoy the vineyard and mountain scenery. Read our Hightower Creek Vineyards guide for more about the property, or explore the producer’s mead collection before choosing a flight.

Hightower Creek has live music on Saturday afternoons. Check its calendar for the performer and schedule, and confirm the closing time before a late visit. 🎶

🥂 More Places to Taste Local Mead

☕🍎 A dedicated meadery is not your only option. These stops offer mead as part of a broader drinks menu, which can work well when everyone in your group wants something different.

🐐 JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters & Tasting Room • Cleveland

The Mount Yonah view and fenced dog park keep drawing us back to JumpinGoat. We’ve even spotted a bald eagle soaring the big skies. 🦅🐕 There’s plenty to enjoy while spending an afternoon outside with a drink and the dogs.

Coffee drinkers and wine drinkers can share the same outing here. The Cleveland tasting room serves meads from Southern Origin Meadery, a Georgia producer based in Canon, outside the mountain area covered by this guide. Coffee and other beverages round out the choices. Browse the shop for local honey and other treats to take home. Check the mead and wine menu for the latest choices. The JumpinGoat guide has more photos and visiting details. ☕

🍹 JumpinGoat also mixes mead-based cocktails, including fruity lemonade blends and a Peach Bellini made with peach mead and Prosecco. Ask what’s on the current cocktail menu when you arrive.

🐕🎶 JumpinGoat is open daily, with a fenced dog park and Saturday and Sunday live music. Check the event calendar for your date. Head to the Cleveland location on Helen Highway for the mountain-view tasting-room experience described here.

🍎 Mercier Orchards • Blue Ridge

🥧 Mercier combines a mead stop with an orchard market and bakery visit. Its tasting room selection includes local meads, hard cider, and wine, so you can compare drinks before browsing baked goods and other farm-market treats.

🍯 Look for meads from Etowah Meadery at the tasting counter, and ask which flavors are pouring when you arrive. Browse the honey selection in the market before heading home; our honey-shopping section has a closer look at the displays.

🐕🍎 The market, bakery, pond, and orchard setting give everyone something to explore alongside a tasting. Pet dogs can join you on the outdoor tasting deck and by the pond, but cannot go inside the market or into the orchard.

The tasting room begins pouring later than the market opens, especially on Sunday. Our Mercier Orchards guide covers more of the orchard experience.

🍷 Montaluce previously offered mead, but it is not part of its current drink selection. The tasting stops above focus on places where you can enjoy mead now.

🍯 Bring Home Local Honey and Honey-Based Products

Honey is part of the experience beyond the tasting glass. 🐝 Several of these stops have local honey and honey-based products to browse, whether you want a jar for breakfast, something to pair with cheese, or a gift to take home.

• Tesnatee River & Allison’s Honey: Browse the self-serve honey shop, with honey varieties to compare.
• Mercier Orchards: Explore the dedicated honey-product area, arranged on honeycomb-shaped display walls in the market.
• Etowah Meadery: Compare honey at the sampling station, then browse the jars and bottles of honey wine.
• JumpinGoat: Browse the shop for local honey, coffee, and other treats.

🍯 Ask about the honey varieties, ingredients, and available sizes as you browse. Comparing honey alongside a mead tasting gives you another way to explore the flavors you enjoy.

❓ North Georgia Mead FAQs

A little preparation helps you choose a tasting and enjoy the bottles you bring home. Here are a few common questions, plus two optional upgrades for serving mead at home. 🍯

🍯 Choosing Your Mead

🍾 Look at the flavor descriptions, then ask which bottles match your preferred sweetness and strength.

• 🐝 Is mead the same as honey wine? Honey wine is another name for mead. Producers ferment honey, sometimes adding fruit, spices, or other ingredients. Read the description of the specific bottle rather than assuming all meads taste alike.
• 🥂 Is all mead sweet? No. For example, Hightower Creek’s collection includes off-dry styles, while Etowah offers a range of still and sparkling choices. Tell staff what you like before choosing a flight.
• 🍾 Where can I buy local mead to take home? Ask the tasting room about bottles or cans of your favorites. Etowah’s and Southern Origin Meadery’s online shops are additional options; selection and shipping availability vary by address.

🐕 Planning Your Visit

• 🐾 Which North Georgia mead stops are dog-friendly? Etowah Meadery, Tesnatee River, Hightower Creek, and JumpinGoat welcome dogs, with seating rules varying by location. JumpinGoat has a fenced dog park; Hightower’s published policy permits leashed dogs on the covered deck. At Mercier Orchards, pet dogs are welcome on the outdoor tasting deck and by the pond, but not inside the market or in the orchard. Keep dogs leashed outside designated off-leash areas and check current arrangements before visiting.
• 🍯 Can I buy honey as well as mead? Yes. Tesnatee River/Allison’s Honey, Mercier Orchards, Etowah Meadery, and JumpinGoat offer honey shopping. Allison’s Honey’s self-serve shop is next door to Tesnatee, which also has an indoor observation hive; Mercier has a dedicated honey-product area with honeycomb display walls. Browse the local honey and honey-based products section for more ideas, and check the separate honey store access hours with Tesnatee.
• 🎶 Which stops have live music? Tesnatee River, Hightower Creek, and JumpinGoat have live music. Check each venue’s current calendar for dates and performers. Etowah does not currently have live music.
• 📍 Has Etowah Meadery moved? Yes. Use 4690 Hwy 52 East, Dahlonega, and phone 678-570-7349. Its former brewery partnership and old-location signs can cause confusion.
• 📆 Can I visit these tasting rooms on a weekday? Tesnatee River and JumpinGoat are open daily. Etowah’s current schedule is Friday through Sunday. Mercier has separate tasting hours.

🥂 Little Luxuries for Your Take-Home Bottles

• 🍯 What glass could make a small mead tasting feel special? Consider a set of RIEDEL Vinum Port glasses for small pours of a richer still mead. These compact stemmed glasses were designed for port; using them for a mead tasting is a serving idea to try at home. Ordinary wine glasses also work.
• 🧊 What could keep a chilled bottle cool on the porch? The YETI Rambler Wine Chiller is a sturdy option for a relaxed afternoon outside. Chill the bottle first and check its fit: YETI says most 750 mL bottles fit, but some wider sparkling-wine bottles may not. Mead bottles come in several shapes and sizes.

🍾 Ask the producer how to serve and store your particular mead. A sparkling bottle and a barrel-aged still mead may call for different temperatures, closures, and handling after opening.

🍇 Continue tasting your way around the mountains with a different locally made drink, or save these guides for another trip.

• 🍻 North Georgia Breweries and Beer
• 🍎 North Georgia Craft Cider
• 🍸 North Georgia Distilleries and Spirits
• 🍷 North Georgia Vineyards and Wineries

💬 Which North Georgia mead would you pour for a first-time taster? Share your favorites in the comments! 🍯