Bochet Adventures with Roger Taylor

If you’ve ever met Roger Taylor, you know he’s a walking encyclopedia of bees, honey, and mead. He’s been keeping bees since he was nine years old—that’s over sixty years of buzzing experience—and he’s turned that lifelong hobby into some truly legendary meads. Among them, his specialty: bochet, or caramelized honey mead.

Roger’s mead journey didn’t start smooth. His first batches were strong, hot, and not exactly drinkable. But one day, after a friend asked him to brew “the king’s mead” (inspired by the movie Beowulf), Roger dove headfirst into meadmaking. He got Ken Schramm’s The Compleat Meadmaker, set up his hives in Montecito, and eventually stumbled onto bochet—a style that’s as dramatic as it sounds.

If you’ve seen folks on YouTube with giant pots of flaming honey, you know bochet can get messy. Roger and fellow meadmaker John Aitchison decided to try a 15th-century French recipe. They cooked honey to about 280°F, which produced a mead with a distinct burnt charcoal character—an early lesson in how quickly caramel can tip into scorched.

Later, Roger teamed up with John Aitchison and John Kaufman to push the boundaries even further. They tried heating honey all the way to 340°F, only to find it blackened, hardened, and refused to ferment. From there, Roger and John Aitchison launched a full temperature study, caramelizing honey in careful steps: 220°F, 230°F, 240°F, and so on. What they discovered is now a rule of thumb in bochet-making: the sweet spot is around 260–270°F. That’s where the magic happens—caramel, toasted marshmallow, and deep flavors without the burnt bitterness. 

Over the years, Roger found that using a crockpot is the safest, easiest way to make a bochet. Set it on low for ten hours, and you’ll hit about 250°F without having to stir constantly or risk honey burns. (He’s had enough blisters to know better.)

When it comes to flavor, Roger gets excited. Sweet clover honey develops a cinnamon kick when caramelized, and when he pairs it with apple juice, cinnamon, vanilla, and oak, the result tastes like baked apple pie in a glass. He’s also played with bananas, added bochet to stouts for braggots, and even tried chocolate yeast. For him, bochet is about layering flavors and seeing where honey and heat can take you.

Fermentation with caramelized honey is slower and sweeter. Those long-chain sugars from caramelization don’t fully ferment, so bochets always finish with a little extra body and sweetness. That’s part of their charm, and Roger leans into it.

His advice to new meadmakers? Skip the fire show. “Do it in a crockpot, slow and low,” he says. Use a lighter honey so you can see and taste the changes, and keep fermentation cool to avoid harsh flavors. Above all, be patient.

Roger’s bochets have earned him medals at competitions, including a Best of Show at the Pacific Brewer’s Cup. Not bad for a style many people are too intimidated to try. 

At the end of the day, Roger reminds us that bochet isn’t just about caramelized honey—it’s about curiosity, a willingness to experiment, and sharing the results with friends. And as Ken Schramm once put it, “You can oak something and whatever mead it is, it will grab it by the throat and drag it three rungs up the ladder.”

Bochet Mead (1-gallon batch)

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs light honey (sweet clover if you can find it)

• Water to 1 gallon

• 1 packet Lalvin 71B yeast (or a wine yeast you like)

• Yeast nutrient (e.g., Fermaid O)

• Optional: cinnamon stick, vanilla bean, or oak cubes for added depth

Steps:

1. Caramelize the honey

   • Place honey in a crockpot on low for about 10 hours.

   • It will darken to a deep amber and give off caramel/toasted marshmallow aromas.

   • Skim foam every now and then (pro tip: save it in a jar for later use).

2. Make your must

   • Cool the caramelized honey slightly.

   • Mix with water to reach about 1 gallon total volume.

   • Target starting gravity: ~1.120.

3. Pitch the yeast

   • Rehydrate yeast according to instructions.

   • Add to the must and aerate well.

4. Ferment cool & steady

   • Keep temperature around 58°F if possible.

   • Add yeast nutrients (staggered).

   • Fermentation may be slower than traditional meads—be patient.

5. Condition

   • Once fermentation finishes, rack off lees.

   • Optional: add oak, cinnamon, or vanilla for 1 week to boost flavor.

6. Bottle & enjoy

   • Let it age at least 3–6 months.

   • Flavor develops into rich caramel, marshmallow, and toffee notes.

Sip and enjoy!