appealing products. Brewers, winemakers, and mead makers commonly use them for fermentation, including yeast strains identified specifically for mead fermentation. These are strains that have been selected because of their characteristic of preserving delicate honey flavors and aromas. Mead can also be distilled to a brandy or liqueur strength, in which case it is sometimes referred to as a whiskey. A version called "honey jack" can be made by partly freezing a quantity of mead and straining the ice out of the liquid (a process known as freeze distillation), in the same way that applejack is made from cider. Regional variants In Finland, a sweet mead called is connected with the Finnish Vappu festival (although in modern practice, brown sugar is often used in place of honey). During secondary fermentation, added-raisins augment the amount of sugar available to the yeast and indicate readiness for consumption, rising to the top of the bottle when sufficiently depleted. Sima is commonly served with both the pulp and rind of a lemon. Ethiopian mead is called tej (ጠጅ, ) and is usually home-made. It is flavored with the powdered leaves and bark of gesho, a hop-like bittering agent which is a species of buckthorn. A sweeter, less-alcoholic version called berz, aged for a shorter time, is also made. The traditional vessel for drinking tej is a rounded vase-shaped container called a berele. Mead known as iQhilika is traditionally prepared by the Xhosa of South Africa. Mead in Poland has been part of culinary tradition for over a thousand years. In the United States, mead is enjoying a resurgence, starting with small home meaderies and now with a number of small commercial meaderies. As mead becomes more widely available, it is seeing increased attention and exposure from the news media. This resurgence can also been seen around the world in the UK and Australia particularly with session (lower alcohol styles) some times call hydromel and Mead-Beer Hybrids also known as Braggots. List of mead variants Acerglyn: A mead made with honey and maple syrup. Bais: A native mead from the Mandaya and Manobo people of eastern Mindanao in the Philippines. It is made from honey and water fermented for at least five days to a month or more. Balché: A native Mexican version of mead. Bilbemel: A mead made with blueberries, blueberry juice, or sometimes used for a varietal mead that uses blueberry blossom honey.