On Thursday, May 19 from 5:30 - 7:30 pm, try Colony Meadery’s award-winning meads at our next Bethlehem Food Co-op Member Event inside the Moravian Book Shop. This is a free event that is open to the public.

Colony Meadery Co-Founder Greg Heller-LaBelle talks about what mead is, his local business, and partnering with the co-op on this event.

1. Your meadery started in Allentown and opened its Bethlehem location in time for the holiday season last year. Why did you select Moravian Book Shop for it?

Like many of our best partnerships, the one with Moravian Book Shop came up through a random chance mutual connection, and we quickly discovered that it was going to be a great fit. For us, a lot of our relationships - from vendors to landlords to our friends in other industries - come down to shared values: Do they believe in a community and a collaborative approach to challenges? Do they have a respect for the history and experiences that make a place what it is? Do they love what they do and sincerely want to share it with others? MBS is a fantastic, historical place with tons to share, and it has personal significance for me since I frequented it as a kid in Bethlehem many years ago.

2. For anyone unfamiliar with mead as an alcoholic beverage option besides wine, beer and cocktails, what should they know keep in mind when trying it for the first time?

Mead is really its own beverage, wholly unlike wine or beer or anything else. There's an enormous range of flavors and styles we can achieve. We go everywhere from a 5.5% ABV mead hard lemonade that we put in a slushie machine, to a 16.5% ABV raspberry chipotle. So we make something for almost any palate.

3. As a locally-owned and operated business, why did you want to host an event for the Bethlehem Food Co-op?

As a craft beverage producer, we take what goes into our product seriously, and so we naturally have a lot in common with the Co-op members and future customers. We believe that what we eat and drink matters, and we believe in being active members of a community. It goes back to that shared values thing; there are so many local institutions and people, from the Brew Works to the beekeepers, that helped us as we were getting started, and we like to support other organizations that are all rowing in the same direction as we are.