Mead Recipe - Smoldering Pear & Star Anise Bochet

Every month I do some research and get inspired by other brewers and mead makers and try to come up with an interesting mead recipe. Here's my idea for August 2026. This doesn't mean I'll be making it this month, but it's going on the list of things to try, and features some new methods like caramelizing the honey and using Voss Kveik yeast. This recipe is a bochet. If you haven't tried one, it's mead made with honey that's been cooked until it darkens and smells like toasted marshmallow. The heat changes the chemistry. You get unfermentable sugars and Maillard compounds that give you a natural semi-sweet finish without any chemical stabilization. It's one of the few ways to make a mead that doesn't need sulfites or sorbate to stay sweet. This batch pairs that caramelized base with dried pear and star anise. The yeast is Voss Kveik, which I keep wanting to try because it ferments hot and fast without producing fusel alcohols. At 86°F it throws off bright orange esters that cut through…