It took Joe and Ginger Leigh more than two years to realize their dream of opening Orlando’s first meadery — a winery focused on making honey wines.
The effort has seen the pair put in long hours.
“It’s incredible. We’ve been doing 120-hour weeks for the past year,” Joe Leigh said. “It’s just the two of us. We have wonderful bartenders. But we do everything else.”
The pair opened their taproom at 1121 N. Mills Ave. in August after a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2021. After that, they had to find a location and then jump through all kinds of red tape.
“Alcohol production is highly regulated with the government. It’s both state and federal. So every formula needs to be approved, every label needs to match the formula — so every word is regulated,” Joe Leigh said.
Beyond the regulatory hurdles, Ginger Leigh, who is also an artist under the name Synthestruct, designed the entire taproom while also working with the city for various grants.
“We complement each other really well,” Ginger Leigh said. “Alongside with doing the creative, the fun parts, there’s also applying for the permits and things. It couldn’t possibly have gone faster because we were working on that — we would wake up in the morning, and then pretty much until we went to sleep at night.”
All of the hard work has paid off for the couple, as their taproom has been a big draw in Orlando’s trendy Mills 50 neighborhood.
“People notice as they’re driving down Mills Avenue, big black building, and a lot of people the logo catches their eye,” Ginger Leigh said. “They don’t know what it is, so it intrigues them. So, yes, we’ve had so many people say that they were driving by and they had to do a quick U-turn to see you know what exactly is this big black building.”
The pair said they get a of people who have never tried mead before entering their taproom.
“They don’t realize that it can taste very different depending on the honey that we use,” Ginger Leigh said. “And there’s different styles — it can be fruited, it can be spiced — and so even if they’ve had it before, a lot of people that come in, they’re still trying it like it’s the first time they’ve had it because they’re trying something new.”
On the latest episode of Florida Foodie, Joe and Ginger Leigh walk us through the mead-making process. They also share insights on the different kinds of honey they use and all the different styles of mead they offer.
Please follow our Florida Foodie hosts on social media. You can find Candace Campos on Twitter and Facebook. Lisa Bell is also on Facebook and Twitter and you can check out her children’s books, “Norman the Watchful Gnome.”
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Florida Foodie - Doug Miller, FK Your Diet
Florida Foodie - Chef Nick Aikens & Nikki's Place
Florida Foodie - Francisco Cortes of Simple As 123 Meals
Florida Foodie - Popcorn Junkie
Florida Foodie - The Future Of Craft Breweries During Coronavirus Restrictions
Florida Foodie - Second Harvest Food Bank And Hurricane Season
Florida Foodie - Gideon's Bakehouse
Florida Foodie - Kalera CEO, Daniel Malechuk
Florida Foodie - Even Dimov / Too Much Sauce
Florida Foodie - Dale Volkert Of Lake Meadow Naturals
Florida Foodie - Andrea Ruiz-Hays, Food Waste
Florida Foodie - Ghost Kitchens / Kitchen AF - Jim Marshall
Florida Foodie - Nearby Naturals
Florida Foodie - Kendra Lott, Publisher of Edible Orlando
Florida Foodie - Charlie Pioli And O-Town Compost
Florida Foodie - Dave Green And Devoting Life To Others
Florida Foodie - Chef John Collazo With Bad As's Sandwich
Florida Foodie - Ben Hoyer From Downtown Credo
Florida Foodie - Sticky Rice
Florida Foodie - Orlando Foodie Girl
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Into Thin Air
The Best Advice Show
Mismatch
Frankenstein
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Eyes of Texas
Florida’s Fourth Estate