BEING a fan of most things alcoholic, I couldn't resist being transported back to medieval times with a taste of mead.

You might think that mead would be sweet with honey being the main ingredient, but the Magna Carta brand I tasted had more of a bitter taste, with a definite kick.

The mead is also not as thick as I thought it would be, being mainly consisting of honey, and has a smooth texture which goes down very easily.

An average bottle of mead features anything from 12 to 20 per cent alcohol, so a few glasses might make you think you actually are back in a land ruled by Henry VIII.

Indeed, if I was not driving back to work, I could have happily sunk a bottle of it.

Brewer Gordon Baron explained that he wanted the special Magna Carta mead to be authentic to the times.

He said: “I decided that I had to produce a mead that was more authentic to the 13th century.

"Yeasts available then would have been similar to bread yeasts, rather than the specialised brewing yeasts we have today.

"Many would have relied on wild airborne yeasts propagating and fermenting the honey and water mixture.

"I created this special mead at 12.5 per cent ABV by purposefully fermenting three different batches at different strengths and blending them together. "As with all my meads, it will be unique.”

Mead is starting to make a comeback, and when people get a taste of it, surely they will have a glass of mead with X Factor on a Saturday night rather than a glass of wine.