For the Love of Mead
Some hobbies are so enjoyable you’ll do whatever it takes to turn them into a business venture. That’s why Eric Depradine travels regularly to Highland Community College in Wamego, 99 miles from his home in Kansas City, Missouri, to produce his increasingly popular mead, or honey wine.
A Sweet Adventure
Eric, his wife DeAundra and their two children, Valentina and Zacharie, are originally from southern Louisiana. There, Eric developed in interest in enology — the study of winemaking. He wanted to recreate some of the wines he and DeAundra enjoyed on their honeymoon in Washington, but his options were limited: The grapes used to produce those wines wouldn’t grow in Louisiana and the Depradines didn’t have the land to grow them on anyway. That’s when Eric discovered mead.
“Since grapes are not readily available in Louisiana throughout the year, we began experimenting with honey and other fruits like oranges,” Eric said.
Eric partnered with the owner of a local orange grove and bought a 60-pound bucket of honey in 2011. After a few trial-and-error batches, he was beginning to learn the ins and outs of making and storing mead. When the family moved to Kansas City in 2015, he began looking for ways to expand his knowledge.
“I wanted to formalize my winemaking education beyond just reading books,” Eric said. “The viticulture and enology certificate program at Highland Community College offered me a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of winemaking, like the importance of sanitation and the wine’s stability and chemical analysis.”
Starting Out at 456 Wineries
After completing the certificate program, Eric turned to HCC’s wine incubator in Wamego, known as 456 Wineries, to launch his family-owned Zydeco Meadery.
The goal of 456 Wineries is “to help wineries begin operations, build clientele and inventory, and then eventually move on to become stand-alone wineries, making room for new entrepreneurs to move in and get started.” There’s space in the incubator for six wineries, which can become members through an application process.
Zydeco is one of five startups currently at 456 hoping to become independent Kansas wineries.
“I’ve wanted to make mead as a side business since 2013,” Eric said. “Highland's incubator program is a great way for us to achieve this dream.”
Eric’s goal for Zydeco is to move out of the incubator in Wamego and settle the meadery in a commercial operation in Wyandotte or Leavenworth County, so the family can remain on their small farm with its 30 apple trees in rural Kansas City.
Wine From the Land of Kansas
Among the selection of meads Zydeco produces are two featuring Kansas honey: the Sunflower Delight and the Kanza Cyser (a mead made with apple juice instead of water). There’s also a Trinidadian mead, made with dried hibiscus flowers.
“My recipe for the hibiscus mead comes from my 94-year-old grandmother, Ena Depradine,” Eric said. “Her family originated in Trinidad and Venezuela.”
Ena taught him how to make a non-alcoholic hibiscus tea using cane sugar to balance the tart flavor.
“I substituted honey for the cane sugar, fermented the sweetened tea, and then back-sweetened the drink with honey once the fermentation was complete,” Eric said.
The result? A sweet and smooth concoction that’s worth a toast!
If you want to try one of Zydeco’s meads, you can find them at retailers in Lawrence, Manhattan, Overland Park, Kansas City (Kansas), Wamego and Wichita. Cheers!
More Kansas Sips and Spirits
