Tomka
The Tomka company is the oldest producer of mead in Slovakia in the post-revolutionary era. It is typical in that it is produced by traditional methods by fermenting bee honey in water without the addition of herbal or fruit ingredients. It matures in oak barrels.
The name of the company is derived from the name of its founder. Dr. Karol Tomka was active for decades in the Slovak Beekeepers' Association, where, as the director of a purpose-built facility in Nitra, he was involved in the processing of bee honey and in 1986 founded the first production of mead in Slovakia.
We consider the year 1989 to be the beginning of the company's establishment, because the production of mead became the main activity of the then still small entrepreneur. After social changes, the brand name TOMIS (a combination of the words Tomko + Apis) was created in 1990. Under this name, the company produces mead and bee products, participates in the first exhibitions and does pioneering work in promoting this unique drink. A lot of effort is devoted to building the company's headquarters and production premises in Nitra. In 1998, the name and brand were changed to Tomko. With this change, we wanted to express our pride in our products and we literally signed up for the quality of the products, namely honey and mead.
After 25 years of production, our mead received the official trade name Traditional Slovak Mead. In 2012, after the death of the founder, the company and production were taken over by his son Mgr. Bronislav Tomka and thus the tradition of producing first-class mead can continue.
There are many recipes for making mead available, and they differ mainly in the use of different flavors from herbs, spices or fruits. However, traditional mead is only made from honey, water and yeast. You can choose the honey yourself according to your own taste. For the mead to start fermenting, for example, 350 to 500 g of honey per 1 liter of water. The exact amount depends on the type of honey and how sweet you want the mead to be. You bring the water with honey to a boil so that the honey melts and you remove the resulting foam from the surface. Cool this sweet and sterile solution to 20-25 °C and add yeast to it. In 24 to 48 hours, the mead should begin to visibly ferment, which will take several weeks. The length of the process depends on the amount of sugar in the honey and the temperature in the room where fermentation takes place. You can already eat "mead wine".
Those who, after fermentation, roll the mead into a barrel or demijohn and store it in the cold in the cellar will after some time (approx. 1 year) experience mature and clear traditional mead.
The original recipe contained 50% honey, but was too sweet for many customers. The latest editions contain slightly less honey and are semi-sweet. We sometimes also have archive editions in the Mead House, but unfortunately the pandemic has suspended sales and the bottling of archive meads is not yet planned in 2021.
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