Andrew Geffken, a co-owner of Charm City Meadworks, will discuss “the nectar of the gods” at the Feb. 9 meeting of the Chesapeake Bay Herb Society.
Charm City Meadworks was born out of a love of adventure and learning. Co-owner James Boicourt began keeping bees in college, after taking graduate-level entomology classes. Through the excess of honey, he started to translate his home-brewing hobby into the amateur crafting of honey-based spirits and beverages.
After college, his love for the water led him to a job at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, where he met fellow brew enthusiast and future co-owner Andrew Geffken. As they dreamed and schemed of investing in a new business, mead grew from an annual Viking party to a full-fledged business, seeking to show the world that the oldest alcoholic beverage in history is still relevant, and more importantly, still just as delicious.
Abandoning engineering and sustainability jobs to work a lot more for a lot less but having a great time doing it, James and Andrew launched Baltimore City’s only meadery in early 2014 and recently expanded into a new facility. Charm City and the nectar of the gods are a match made in heaven. Local retailers carrying Charm City include Wishing Well Liquors, Town & Country, Hair O’ The Dog, and Best Wine and Spirits.
The society usually meets the second Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 7215 Ocean Gateway, Easton. Meetings include an herbal potluck dinner, a short business meeting and a presentation on an herb-related topic. The theme for the February dinner is herbs and spice blends of the Portuguese Empire.
CBHS was formed in 2002 to share knowledge of herbs with the local community. The group maintains the herb garden at Pickering Creek Audubon Center.
For more information, call (410) 827-5434 or visit www.ChesapeakeBayHerbSociety.org.
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