I should update this review since they have moved into The Plant Area in Pittsboro. Great accommodations, like a great hall with tables, without the Medieval feel. Excellent area though. You can rent out this area for parties, etc. also they serve food too. I usually bring my guests from out of town here. Always a great time . The tasting is your best bet. I like the Traditional Dry myself. They do have special batches and seasonal Meade Wines. Another 5 star review. read more

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I came here on a random Monday so naturally there was no one else here. There are a ton of tables and an open concept. The lady working was not very friendly. I mistakenly said that I didn't like beer and she had to say "there are no beers here. Mead is not beer." in a harsh tone. My friends and I each got flights ($12 each). Each flight comes with 6 options to choose from. I enjoyed everything tried. Some were a little too sweet for my liking. Meads - Little Dipper: I don't really remember what this tasted like - Cassiopeia: this was really good! You can definitely taste the fruity green tea. Ciders - Carolina Crisp: too sweet for me - Celtic Currant: too tart for me - Pink Dogward: this was my favorite - honey'd crisp: also on the sweeter side but not as sweet as Carolina Crisp They have games in the corner. I imagine it's a more fun vibe on the weekends and in the summer. read more

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Absolutely blown away by the service, the mead, and prices! I became a member today because with the two tastings that are included and the bottles I planned it buy, it is going to save me so much! Joy walked us through 16 different meads, and was so wonderful to chat with. All were great and I've tried a lot of meads. If you like sweet and even savory, this is for you. The best meadery in the area (Durham included). Favorites were: Gallberry Traditional, Blackberry, Spiced Apple, Elderberry Most interesting flavors: Ginger, Honey Cloer, Nordic Blend Thank you Joy, we will return! read more

Starrlight Mead - Meaderies Near Me - Pittsboro, North Carolina

Highly recommend stopping here when visiting Pittsboro. We have been wanting to come here for a while and finally made the trip. The meadery is located in Chatham Beverage District so there is a nearby brewery and distillery for anyone who doesn't like wine. There is also an axe throwing place, scooters, large chess set, and ample room to run around. Perfect area for a family/friend gathering or picnic. Starrlight Mead is located at the front of the district with ample room to park. The employees are welcoming and knowledgeable. Numerous tables are available inside along with spots to stand or sit at the bar. We chose to sit at the bar and do a tasting. The tastings and flights are reasonably priced and offer numerous options. They are educational and provide ample mead so you will leave satisfied. We shared multiple tastings and tried most options. Below are our thoughts: Traditional Mead: light, not our favorite but a nice dry mead Apricot: excellent, highly recommend if you like a fruity mead Blueberry: surprisingly we did not like this as much as we hoped. It was light and acidic Cloer Pyment: strong muscadine flavor Nordic Blend: good flavor, would have been better if they didn't add the honey back in Ben's Special Ginger: wow delicious, great choice for those who like ginger flavor Kickin' Cranberry Orange: unique spicy mead with a smoky bacon flavor. I bought a bottle Traditional Mead - Wildfoam: yum, tastes like a marshmallow! Plum: tastes very fresh and acidic Ebling Reserve: pricy, but worth it. Excellent cherry, blackberry, and oak flavors Overall, we enjoyed our visit and recommend this meadery to others! read more

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What a great fun place! We went to the Meadery first I had a glass of the sweet berry Mead it was delicious. I got to taste the coffee Mead it was so good I bought a bottle for home -that is a must try! After the Meadery we walked down the hill to the brewery you can bring your drink with you and keep the glass. By the brewery you can do a tasting or walk around to the different eateries and ax throwing you can ride a scooter or bike, sit by the fire pit , play chess or go on the swings. There is also a coffee roaster you can walk to ( they get the beans from here for the coffee Mead) Read up on the history-pretty cool! Have Fun! read more

Starrlight Mead - Blueberry - Meaderies Near Me - Pittsboro, North Carolina

What a great mead tasting at Starrlight Mead! We came out to visit The Plant, the outdoor food hall, for an afternoon while on vacation. We were pleasantly surprised to find this whole separate building with a meadery. We weren't too sure what to expect when we came in but my fiance loves mead so it was a must to go in and investigate. They have a large open seating area inside this cute 2-story house concept. Looks great for events! I loved the rocking chairs outside on the porch - I'm sure it's lovely to sit out there when the weather is crisp. When we came in we were greeted by the staff member working at the bar area. She offered for us to do the mead tasting which included tastes of ten of their current selections which we were able to choose ourselves. I'm not much of a mead drinker but was pleasantly surprised by some of the flavors. The ones that weren't too sweet were my favorites. The tasting price came with the glass to take home which was a nice souvenir. My fiance ended up purchasing a bottle to take home of the option he liked the most. If you're a lover of mead, this is a great spot to visit for a tasting. They had some award winning meads on their list which were all wonderful and the staff was super friendly and helpful as well. 10/10 recommend a stop in to Starrlight Mead. read more

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I wish I could find the lady that recommended that I check out Starlight Meadery! I had such an amazing time here and at all of the spots around it. Starlight is a part of a larger co op that has a couple of restaurants, a distillery and cidery, a hemp store, and ax throwing spot. I enjoyed the tour, tasting, and bird loving that I experienced at Starlight. As soon as you walk in you feel welcome and relaxed. The staff are super nice and knowledgeable and encourage you to ask questions. The tour upped my knowledge regarding the meadery process and the fact that they often get confused with a Winery, but they sometimes do use grapes in their wines--well just one. I tried a flight of their wines and decided to get a bottle of their traditional semi sweet, which was super refreshing and not really too sweet. When you think of a mead one this is definitely what you think of. I can't wait to get this bottle home, chill it, and open it on my patio. I definitely will be back and will encourage my friends to come as well. read more

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We had a great time selecting mead and tasting it. What a lovely place. Lovely atmosphere. We also sat out on the porch and watched it rain after our tasting. We bought 3 bottles of the mead and will definitely return again. read more

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My favorite meadery in Nc! It's a bit out the way from RTP, but the ride on 64 is good decompression from the tussles of RDU. Love coming here and buying bottles in bulk with my membership. If you're unsure to buy, you can do a flight and select up to 8 varieties. The staff are very knowledgeable and helpful in selecting if you haven't had mead before. read more

Starrlight Mead - Mead hall - Meaderies Near Me - Pittsboro, North Carolina

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We have only had mead a handful of times so we were excited to check this place out. My husband and I had a tasting, you get to choose 8 meads for $10 each. We also got to try the meads on tap. If you don't want to do a tasting, you can choose a flight of 6 meads for $5, a slushy or a glass. Our favorites were the traditional sourwood, Ben's special ginger, lavender, chamomile and the ones on tap (auriga and little dipper). If you want to discover honey wine, check out Starrlight Mead. read more

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If you like Mead, this place is amazing. Mead is an acquired taste for many, but this place is very welcoming. Beautiful taproom, helpful service, and a wide variety of meads. As a drinker of beer, wine, cider, and mead, I love this place. My wife, who only drinks wine and cider, was less impressed by the Mead because it's not her thing. That said, we both agree that the place is beautiful and has an outstanding staff. That said, I recommend everyone check this place out, and give the mead a chance. I feel like it's a very good gateway between cider, beer, and wine. You won't be disappointed in having a visit here. If you are a fan of Mead, You will be highly impressed because this stuff is top quality! read more

Starrlight Mead - Meaderies Near Me - Pittsboro, North Carolina

My first experience here was Mead Fest and I absolutely loved it! The staff was so extremely welcoming and knowledgeable about the meads they sold. The Mead tasting was wonderful! There was also a free Mead tasting we attended that was awesome and showed the meads locally available to buy. The Mead Fest was like a mini Renaissance Festival and it was wonderful! Plenty of vendors out selling goods, food, and lots of drinks! They also have a mead club you can join where you get discounted mead and exclusive emails about new flavors! I'll be heading back for sure! read more

This place is great! Their mead is really high quality, and they have a great number of award-winning varietals. If you do a tasting, which is quite economical, the host will tell you all about each of the flavors, and you'll learn a whole bunch about how they make it. I ended up coming home with four bottles, and my friends became members. They've got meads for every season, and they make great gifts. It's not always easy to find a good mead, but everything I tasted was solid. So I would definitely recommend read more

Located in a little eco-industrial complex in Pittsboro, Starrlight Mead is doing a great job making mead accessible to the public. This complex is also home to Fair Game Beverage and some other businesses so you can take a trip out this way and tour a bit. But Starrlight itself is worth a drive given their cool space. The large open room at Starrlight encourages you to browse a bit and check out all their bottled mead flavors. A large U-shaped bar gives people plenty of space to do a tasting and try a good number of their regular and seasonal meads. And they are all quite tasty, the mead is brewed in volume and then flavored as necessary. You'll probably go home with a couple of bottles like I did! Note that Starrlight Mead has only been in this location for about a year so the older reviews here may not be relevant. All in all a fun visit to the sleepy town of Pittsboro. But if more places like Starrlight Mead pop up in the area, I'll definitely be visiting more often... read more

Starrlight Mead - Meaderies Near Me - Pittsboro, North Carolina

Delicious variety of honey based wines that range from dry to an amazingly forward flavorful honey that coats your tongue with it's magical sweetness. We really enjoyed sussing out the floral and spicy and herbal notes in all the various bottles we sampled. read more

Their mead is tasty. Buy it in a store. Don't waste your time heading out to the meadery. There are other mearies with much better customer service so have a great experience at one of them. I realize it would take $5 worth of art supplies to put up a sign or something to dedicate one portion of the bar to sales by the bottle or glass, but I guess that would reduce the chaos too much? Much better to have people waving a glass from behind the crowd of people doing tastings. I mean, why would you want people to be able to buy something in a 30 second transaction? Also, that 30 seconds is very well used telling someone "I'm too busy to talk to about renting our venue" as opposed to, I don't know, saying, "I'd love to talk to you but I'm swamped, can you wait 15 minutes? Or 30 minutes?" Nah, better to just blow people off who drove an hour to talk to you about renting your space. Like I said, the mead is tasty, very tasty even. But you can buy it local near you, don't bother coming out to visit the land of no thought to customer service. read more

My husband and I went for a tasting. It was great. The two ladies that presented the samples were very knowledgeable and courteous. We intended to buy one bottle but bought 3. Will definitely purchase again. read more

Cool atmosphere, not my favorite kind of wine but the location, staff and people were great.

This winery is nice. It is tucked away. When doing your tasting be prepared to stand at the counter. My friend and I wanted to try the tasting list front and back but we could only choose 8. Therefore we did 4 dry and 4 sweet. Overall I enjoyed my visit to Pittsboro. There are also some distillery's down the path. It's a great place for a date or to hang with your friends. Also you get to keep the wine glass after your tasting. read more

Cute country space they had lots of seating . I tried two flights herbs / spice and then there fruity flights. Not huge fan of mead it was my first time trying it but if I had to choose ones I like I would say chai , spiced apple and the ginger mead . Service was okay the young lady was wearing a mask and she was wiping everything thing down to make sure everyone would be okay. read more

This is in a small "village" with several other businesses. Everything from vegetarian restaurant to breweries, meaderies, cbd stores to art galleries. Cool trendy village with interesting people and places. read more

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Casual, low-key mead tasting. I saw the deal on Groupon and decided to try it out after a few other friends also went to the place. It's a small shop tucked away at the very back of a grocery plaza -- keep driving past some empty trucks and about 4 speed bumps, and then you'll arrive at Starrlight Mead. It's a casual place, nothing fancy, perfect for a quick little mini-adventure on a lazy weekend. We were given a list of their available mead options to taste, and circled the ones we wanted to try. I enjoyed several, but controlled myself and came home with just 3 bottles (blueberry, peach, and their margarita-inspired mix). read more

Love this place! My husband and I try to get out there at least once a season. Friendly staff, peaceful scenery, and great mead!

Had business nearby in Pittsboro and saw this place nearby on the map, and decided to check it out. The meadery is in a small white building behind the Chatham Marketplace building. You can go in for a tasting of 8 of their meads for around $7 (you keep the tasting glass). They have 20+ varieties on hand, so there is plenty to pick from. It's the first time I've had mead/honey wine, and it definitely tasted interesting. The traditional semi-dry mead is somewhat like grape vine but has the honey aroma. All the other flavors is based on the traditional plus additional honey, juice or other ingredients for flavoring. I decided to buy a bottle cause meaderies are somewhat rare. Bottles start at the upper teens to the mid $20s. Not surprising given the small operation that they run. They also give free tours on the weekends. The tour is really short since it's a small operation and all of the tanks are in a not-so-big room, but the owner who gives the tour is enthusiastic and explains the whole process of turning honey into booze. read more

It was the last weekend before taxes were due, I had already left my office and done the last tax return for the season (so I thought), and last-second filers and procrastinators were calling and asking me to do their taxes - I, on the other hand, had other plans. I quoted outrageous prices along with "I'll meet you at my office" and justified the prices by calling it a premium for waiting until the last minute. I got responses like "H&R Block doesn't charge that kind of premium!" and I then suggested that maybe they could wait in line at H&R Block or similar places. I truly did not want to see another tax form, and it worked to my advantage. So, based on Christina G's write up of Pittsboro during the previous week or two, I decided to pack up the family and head out in that direction! We visited several small shops on the little excursion including a neat wine shop tucked away behind a woodworking shop. The highlight of the trip, however, was Starrlight Mead! Had I known there was a livingsocial deal for such an event, I would have snatched it up. Much to my chagrin, having been in the throes of tax season and trying to also keep up with the rest of my daily responsibilities, things like Living Social and groupon have taken a back seat to work and school. The meadery is in a small building behind what seems to be a former industrial complex that's been converted to offices and a farmers market. The tasting was heavenly, and my bride marked down which varieties she liked best - (HINT HINT - if momma ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy). The ginger variety was terrific, and last night it went perfect with a thai seafood dish. The apple spice was what we would call "Dessert in a glass!" While my bride and I were tasting, my daughter was entertained by the owner with a "Honey" tasting. She has raved about it ever since! Kudos to the ownership for giving some attention to our 'tween and helping to make it an enjoyable experience for her! The tour wasn't a huge production, but it was informative and also made to be humorous! It was cool to see some "peeps" stuck in a carboy for the fermentation process, and got me wondering how I can fit one of those big stainless steel double walled contraptions into the closet next to the kitchen... umm, probably won't work. All in all, we dropped some cash, walked out with 9 bottles, a "membership" the two tasting glasses, and some tips on what we can do to improve our own wine/mead making processes. This stop capped off a terrific Saturday afternoon with my family. read more

Was sent here after learning about the NC wineries tour and for their spice apple mead! It was great vibes when we walked in, and everyone was so nice. I mean you get to try 8 meads for $6 and keep your glass, amazing! Also, it's right by their local market, so if you get hungry you can walk right over and grab a snack. You can also, get a tour of their mead making facilities and learn about the history of Starrlight Mead. Loved the experience and vibes and cannot wait to try other local NC wineries! read more

I've only tried mead once and didn't like it, but I'm a lover of fermentation so I thought I'd give it another shot. Glad I did because this place knows it's mead. The combinations of flavored honey, fruit, and spices makes me understand why all medieval movies have so much drinking in them. Friendly staff and a great product. read more

Starrlight Mead - Honey with wifey - Meaderies Near Me - Pittsboro, North Carolina

Mead? What's that? Fermented honey? With more honey added in? Oh sooooo tasty. I'm hooked. So this is the location where they make and bottle the mead. Family owned and only operational for four years.... but tastes like perfection! I have tasted other honey wines before without success so I came here with apprehension. But pleasantly surprised! First, I highly recommend the tour. The owner is a riot and there is much to learn. Its like being in a chemistry lab... fun gadgets to see! Next, the tasting. There are many varieties to choose from. So depending on your tastes... I liked the infused mead and sweeter meads... but the others could grow on me... So if you're in the area, do not miss this one! read more

Starrlight Mead - Tasting! - Meaderies Near Me - Pittsboro, North Carolina

It's mead! The official drink of Dragonborns everywhere! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpvM9uwOcUc Nestled in an old cotton mill (and behind a market and a bicycle shop), Starrlight Mead offers both tastings of their mead wares as well as mead to buy in-shop. The tasting is cheap, and allows you to taste up to 8 honey wines, including their various regular options, herbal options, and options that sound like mixed drinks (like the Meadarita or Meadjitos). I particularly enjoyed some of the herbal concoctions (such as Chamomile and the Lemon one), as well as the Spiced Apple Mead. So if you want mead, this is the place to go. read more

After buzzing around my house out of sheer delight over Starrlight's Sweet Peach variety I picked up at Sam's, I just *had* to visit the meadery. So, my husband and I ventured out to Pittsboro for a tasting and tour one Saturday afternoon. We had some trouble finding the place because I neglected to read the part of their website that clearly says they're in the Chatham Mills Complex. But, my bad aside, we still had trouble finding them within the complex because they're in a separate white building behind the main red brick building. Tastings are $5 per person, and you go down the list, trying each of their varieties (seven total, when I went), with sips of water and some oyster crackers in between to cleanse your palate. And you get to keep your glass! Their website indicates tour times, but it was very informal and all we had to do was ask. Even though it's a tiny operation without much to actually show, the story about this true mom-and-pop start-up was really inspiring and made me happy to buy a bottle. read more

Love Starrlight's new location! Had a wonderful tasting that left me wanting to purchase all of their meads. Great indoor seating, and rocking chairs on the patio. read more

I should start out by saying that this was my first real experience with mead, so feel free to take the first part with a grain of salt. This place is awesome. My group of friends decided to visit after seeing a lot of talk about mead on the interwebs. In our excitement we picked up a random bottle of mead from the store, tried it, and were dreading the trip to Starrlight because none of us liked it...at all. Fast forward a few months and we make our way to Pittsboro for an alcohol filled trip into culture. They had 7 varieties of Honey Wine that seem to be their standard offerings as well as 7 made with herbs. For the tasting we chose 8 of the 14. Everyone in my party was blown away by the quality and tastiness of the different offerings. The off dry blackberry, semi-sweet traditional, spiced apple, and sage were all well beyond anything any of us expected to try, we even left with some to enjoy later. As much as we enjoyed the mead, the owners and employees at Starrlight were even better. The tour of the establishment was done by one of the owners who was more than able and willing to answer any questions we had from the mead making process, to dorky science questions, and even how one might go about starting as beekeepers. The gentleman who was in charge of the tasting was knowledgeable, personable, and able to put up with my group of obnoxious friends (which says more than I can explain here). As others have said, Starrlight can be somewhat tricky to find but they do have small signs with arrows pointing the way towards it. TL:DR If you want to do something, possibly, a little out of your norm, drink some very interesting, and in my opinion tasty, wines made by some very passionate and interesting people, the tasting and tour at Starrlight mead is a great way to spend an afternoon. read more

I love Starrlight Mead! Let me count the reasons why. The owners are delightful. They're knowledgeable about brewing and their trade. The tastings are fun because all the pourers are interactive and happy to answer any questions one might have. The building itself is humble on the outside - white concrete, tucked away behind a former mill on 15-501 - but the inside is so warm and inviting. In addition to mead, Starrlight sells a treasure trove of fun knick knacks - cork cages, wooden goblets, drinking horns, garden accessories, honey-based skin care products. The tours are fun. You'll learn that each bottle gets love and attention during bottling, from filling to corking and applying labels. And finally, the mead is delicious. They typically carry about 8 varieties, all honey-based (obviously) and often with fruit juice added (post fermentation, to keep the fruity flavor). But the flavors are complex! They recently introduced a line of herbal meads. Tastings are only $5 and by the time you're finished, it adds up to a full glass of wine. I can't recommend this fun, local place enough. If Pittsboro is out of your way, I recommend making a day trip and including this on your itinerary! read more

Friendly, knowledgable staff and the mead is interesting. The tour was nice, liked learning how much they use local products and hearing how the business was started. I liked the semi-dry, others in our group liked others, but everyone liked some of them. Outside they have a few tables so you can buy a bottle & enjoy sipping mead in the sun. It is hard to find. The complex they are in is a bit back & they are around back. There are signs once in the parking area. Well worth finding them. read more

Okay, so the mead is great. That's a given. But the tasting that my girlfriend I did was SO much fun. The meadery is charming and it was fun to see owners take so much pride in their work. (I mean, who wouldn't? This stuff is fantastic.) We lived in Raleigh at the time and it was a fantastic date. Favorites: the Traditional off-dry mead and the seasonal off-dry blackberry mead (I think it's off-dry. Whichever the drier one is.) read more

I was lucky enough to attend their grand opening at their new location and was very impressed. The new location has way more seating, a cozy fireplace, and nice wrap around porches to chill and enjoy your honey wine. Try them all, however, my favorites are the cranberry orange mead. The blackberry is great too! read more

We've been here several times and even got a membership. Since it is about 45 miles from home, we only get here when we are in Pittsboro (which is a pretty cool little town). But we always stop in for a mead and to see what is new and always leave with a couple of bottles. Great little place to just hang and chat with other customers or the owners. Last trip here we had a ginger mead and a spiced apple one, which is served warm. Bottle of that went home with us to have on a cool evening on the patio with a fire in the chiminea. Members always get an annual postcard during their birthday month to stop in a for a free glass. Great to see that they appreciate their customers. read more

We went for a tasting (7$ for 8 different meads) and you get to keep the glass! The staff was very attentive and knowledgeable about the different options. I ended up buying a bottle of the chamomile mead, it was very delicious! I'll definitely be back to try some others that I didn't get a chance this time! read more

Starrlight Mead - Meaderies Near Me - Pittsboro, North Carolina

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Very good tasting. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the mead wines. The young man giving the tasting was very friendly. The only think I was not a fan of is the stop pours. I woudl rather have them short me a sip or two that use those stop pours. No one uses them anymore at tastings. the place was nice and bright and yes a little hard to find, but find it we did. Bought a few really nice meads for the HOlidays. read more

Went to Starrlight Mead as part of my Bachelorette party and they did not disappoint! Loved their unique flavors and learned so much touring the facility. Staff was friendly and fun. Would absolutely recommend and visit again! read more

Starrlight Mead - Meaderies Near Me - Pittsboro, North Carolina