How to bee successful

Tom Cormier and Arielle Berberick have turned their mead making into a passion project. Photos by Courtney Llewellyn

by Courtney Llewellyn

Opening a new beverage business mid-pandemic may have seemed a little too risky for some, but not for Arielle Berberick and Tom Cormier of HoneyPot Farms Meadery in Burlington Flats, NY. In August 2020, they opened their meadery, simply hoping for the best. (They did have the advantage of being only 15 minutes from the normally tourist-heavy Cooperstown, but it was an off year for obvious reasons.)

HoneyPot produces high quality, small batch, all-natural honey and mead products, designing and labeling every bottle themselves. Cormier began experimenting by homebrewing mead back in 2017. Since he and Berberick are both allergic to sulfites, he made his libations without them. And since the base is honey, they’re gluten-free as well.

As production ramped up, they decided to open a taproom. HoneyPot has a main line of products available year-round and other items only made once a year. Visitors will often be able to try between nine and 12 different meads. The “Meant to Bee” is their flagship mead, a champagne-style hoppy drink. Other flavors incorporate blackberries, currants, cherries and other fruits, and their IPMs (India Pale Meads) are made with hops from Yakima Valley, WA.

One perk of their small taproom is the quality of the snacks, chosen to pair well with their drinks. Crackers, Adirondack Cheese spreads and flavorful chocolates are available to visitors of any age. Another perk? Despite being a town of only 1,100 people, Burlington is home to a winery and a brewery in addition to the meadery.

The summer of 2021 will determine what comes next, in terms of growth, for Berberick, Cormier and their HoneyPot. It’s their passion project – they want it to bee successful.

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