Wild Blossom PB & J Mead 750ML

Wild Blossom PB & J Mead 750ML is a 750ml craft mead from Chicago's first meadery, made by pumping honey wine over fresh-roasted peanuts and co-fermenting with Concord grapes. The result is a genuinely unconventional mead that translates the nostalgic flavors of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich into fermented form — a novelty that also happens to be technically ambitious.

Quick Facts: ABV: Not publicly disclosed  |  Origin: Chicago, Illinois, USA  |  Style: Peanut Butter & Grape Mead  |  Producer: Wild Blossom Meadery & Winery

Production & Heritage

Wild Blossom Meadery & Winery holds the distinction of being the first winery established in Chicago and the first meadery in the state of Illinois. The operation raises its own bees and collects its own honey, giving it direct control over the base ingredient that defines every mead in the lineup. For the PB & J expression, the meadery uses a distinctive two-stage process: mead is pumped over fresh-roasted peanuts to extract their nutty, toasty character, then co-fermented with Concord grapes to introduce the jammy sweetness that completes the sandwich analogy. This is not a flavored mead in the extract-and-add sense — the peanuts and grapes are integral to fermentation.

Tasting Notes

Aroma: Roasted peanuts emerge first, followed by a wave of sweet Concord grape reminiscent of classic grape jelly. Beneath those primary notes sits a gentle honeyed warmth from the mead base.

Taste: The palate opens with a distinct peanut butter quality — nutty, slightly savory, and lightly toasted. At mid-palate, Concord grape sweetness fills in, creating that unmistakable PB&J interplay. The honey backbone keeps everything balanced, providing structure without competing with the headline flavors.

Finish: Medium in length, with lingering roasted peanut and a trailing grape-jam sweetness. The honey rounds off the edges, leaving a clean and surprisingly cohesive close.

How to Drink PB & J Mead

This mead works best chilled and served on its own, allowing the peanut and grape interplay to come through clearly. Slightly below room temperature also brings out more of the roasted peanut character. As a dessert-style mead, it pairs naturally with after-dinner settings. For cocktail experimentation, try it in a Mead Flip shaken with a whole egg for a rich, frothy dessert drink; a PB & J Spritz lengthened with sparkling water and a squeeze of lemon to lighten the sweetness; or a Nutty Bramble riffing on the classic Bramble template, where the grape and peanut notes replace blackberry liqueur in an unexpectedly cohesive way.

Best For

• Gifting a mead enthusiast looking for something completely outside the ordinary
• Dessert course at a dinner party where conversation-starting bottles are the goal
• Introducing adventurous craft beer or wine drinkers to the mead category
• Curating a novelty tasting flight alongside other food-inspired meads

Frequently Asked Questions

What does PB & J Mead taste like? It delivers a recognizable peanut butter and grape jelly flavor profile built on a honey mead base, with roasted peanut on the nose and jammy Concord grape sweetness through the palate.

How does PB & J Mead compare to Superstition Peanut Butter Jelly Crime? Superstition's PBJ Crime is an Arizona-made mead at 14% ABV that has earned medals at the Mazer Cup International, while Wild Blossom's version comes from a Chicago meadery that raises its own bees and uses a pumping-over-peanuts production method. Both aim for a liquid PB&J experience, but Wild Blossom's co-fermentation with whole Concord grapes gives it a distinct grape-forward character.

Is PB & J Mead good for sipping on its own? Yes — its dessert-like sweetness and novelty flavor profile make it well suited to chilled sipping after a meal or as a standalone tasting experience.

Where is PB & J Mead made? Wild Blossom PB & J Mead is produced at Wild Blossom Meadery & Winery in Chicago, Illinois, the first winery in the city and the first meadery in the state.

What foods pair well with PB & J Mead? Dark chocolate truffles complement the roasted peanut notes; soft brie or camembert bridges the sweetness with creamy fat; vanilla bean ice cream mirrors the dessert quality; fresh berries echo the Concord grape element; and salted pretzels play off the nutty, savory side of the mead.

What sizes does PB & J Mead come in? The standard available size is a 750ml bottle.

Is PB & J Mead worth the price? Wild Blossom PB & J Mead positions as a specialty craft mead, and its labor-intensive production — pumping over fresh-roasted peanuts and co-fermenting with Concord grapes — places it in the artisanal tier where the price reflects process complexity and small-batch scale.

Why PB & J Mead?

What separates this mead from novelty gimmicks is the production method: the peanut and grape flavors are not added after the fact but built into fermentation itself, with mead physically pumped over fresh-roasted peanuts and Concord grapes introduced as a co-ferment. Wild Blossom's use of honey from its own bee colonies adds a layer of provenance rarely seen in the mead category. As a product from Chicago's first meadery — and Illinois's first — it carries genuine historical significance for the region's craft beverage scene. For drinkers who have explored traditional meads and want something that pushes boundaries without sacrificing drinkability, this is a bottle that earns attention on its own terms.