- Louis Barnett -

Hi, I'm Louis and have a passion for food and drink. I'm also an entrepreneur who started out baking with my mum at age 12, and 8 short years later, I was exporting my chocolate products to over 17 countries worldwide, becoming the youngest ever supplier to a number of supermarkets, including Waitrose at the age of 13. Since leaving my business and searching for the perfect mead, I have spent my time helping others worldwide grow their companies and love what I do through showing others the best ways to grow. www.louisbarnett.org

Growing up, I struggled to find a sense of cultural identity or connection with our distant past and ancestors. I was very young when I first heard about mead and stories of the origins of the phrase 'honeymoon' (hony moone- old English ), an ancient tradition for newlywed couples who would drink mead during the first moon of their marriage. This is where my fascination with the drink began. As I grew older, I tried mead at a number of shows and events, and even cooked with it at food show demonstrations! But many of the meads I tried tasted modern and artificial. For many years, Mead slipped from my mind until I felt a calling to understand more deeply my heritage; I began to research pre-Cristian beliefs and culture. I developed an interest in Druidry and felt mead call for me again. I searched in vain, until one day, a chance walk past a beautiful shop in Aberystwyth called The Treehouse bought my attention to Afon Mel mead, and I knew I had finally found what I had been searching for for so long.