Nectar of the Hinterlands
FOR Andy Coates, his career path was always clear. He would follow in the family tradition and apprentice to his Grandfather to become a beekeeper and mead maker. His grandfather had made award winning mead and honey since the 1940’s and Andy
had grown up enjoying his ‘Poppo’s’ honey and mead. “At Christmas time there was always mead around,” Andy shared. Then life took a different turn and he became an aircraft engineer instead. Andy admits it has been a good job and given him a good life, but it’s never been his true calling.
But when Andy met former chef Nicola Cleaver he found a shared a love of food and drink, so his passion for mead making was reignited. “We both love wineries, fermenting, mead making - the whole slow food movement and seasonal produce,” he said. The couple decided their next phase
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of life would be following their passion for mead making. “It’s our long-term retirement plan,” Andy explained. “We were already experimenting with making mead and we thought, ‘Why not scale it up a bit and make mead for other people to try? Continued page 4
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