As I was walking down one of the sidewalks of Downtown Roanoke after having dined at the Sixth and Sky Rooftop Grille, looking for a place to have a cup of coffee while I waited for the theatre's doors to open to go watch the show "That's So 70's," I came across this charming and welcoming establishment by the name of Atheling Meadworks. I was intrigued by the place and had no idea what it was, so I walked in to find out more about it. It's shiny, original hardwood floors, together with its mysterious, but elegant red brick walls, created an enchanted and amazing ambiance. A live musical performance was taking place by the High Strung Irish Duo. I walked towards the counter located in the middle of the large open-space room with high ceilings and an open second floor, to ask the friendly person behind the counter more about this place and inquire if they served coffee because one of the signs I had seen on the window said they did. I found out that Atheling specialized in mead - an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey - often incorporating fruits and spices. That this award-winning artisan meadery and Tasting Room had opened in Downtown Roanoke in June 2025, and provided a boutique atmosphere where visitors could sample high-quality, handcrafted honey wines ranging from traditional dry meads to innovative fruit-infused blends. Their tasting room served "tasting flights," small-batch experimental meads, and mead-based cocktails. Some of their Award-winning Pours included their "Shield Maiden," a gold-medal-winning melomel crafted with blackberry blossom honey and aged on oak. And another of their standouts was their "Rheda's Longing," a spiced medaglin that was featured as the as the star ingredient in Virginia's 2024 Cocktail of the Year. Their menu included from the "Flight," which was four 1 oz pours of your choice, to Mead Mixed Drinks, and even Classic Mocktails. As for food they have some light fare like charcuterie and bread trays, as well as the Gearharts Fine Chocolate Sampler. Besides all these they also offer Refreshments such as Gladheart Coffee, Hot Tea, Hot Chocolate, and other cold softdrinks. I truly had an enjoyable time there. Had a cup of their Gladheart Coffee. Listened to some Irish songs by the High Strong Irish Duo. After having lived many years in Boston, I consider myself to have a little Irish in me. And even had an opportunity to talk to the lead singer and guitar player of the duo, about future plans to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day their next year, since this place frequently hosts community events such as trivia nights, game nights, and live musical performances. I highly recommend you give them a visit. The Star City of Roanoke is highly fortunate to have a place like this to offer their community and tourist visitors. read more

See all

I visited the tasting room knowing this was a new business and so I try to give the business some leeway as I know they are feeling things out. The tasting room is huge! Two levels and it looked like they had games available to play on the second level. My friends and I just came for a tasting after a food tour so we opted for a table on the first floor to relax. We each ordered a flight thereby allowing us to taste all of their selections. The ordering process was confusing, their menu needs to be rewritten to make it more clear what exactly you are ordering. Menus were very confusing. Being fairly unfamiliar with mead, we couldn't distinguish between the name of their brew with the type of mead. This needs to be done better. When receiving our flights, my friend and I were given the wrong selections (by choosing a flight each, we ended up with a duplicate however when the server poured, we had a triplicate of one while missing another). They need a more consistent way of pouring flights instead of three people trying to all do it thereby resulting in chaos and confusion. Like, I said, new business and they were jumping over each other trying to be helpful. The meads were ok. Some were really good while others weren't palatable (to me- obviously taste is subjective). I prefer my meads drier and these are all really sweet. My friends ordered a charcuterie box for $16. They felt it was pricey for what it was, I felt it was very reasonable as it contained multiple little jars of jams, although admittedly the meat portion was very small. The service and ambiance were excellent! The execution of the tasting and the meads themselves needed work. It's worth a visit though. Give them a try and see what you think. read more

See all

A few of the Meads were not available unless you purchased the bottle. 6 meads available if you want to do a flight of 4. The meads were subpar if you've had meads in the past then you'd understand. The flights are 9.99/4. Our bartender/waitress was very friendly and welcoming. We went around 3:30 in the afternoon and seen one other couple. Not busy at all but looked like they were setting up for entertainment later. Nice building and clean, however, if you wanted to use the restroom, too bad.. they were flooded. You have to go somewhere else. We didn't try any food. Nice visit for one time. read more