We were lucky to catch up with Cem Taviloglu recently and have shared our conversation below.
Cem, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
The “Golden Horn” in Golden Horn Meadery refers to the actual Golden Horn which is an inlet on the Bosporus Straight cutting through Istanbul and connecting the Black sea to the Mediterranean sea. I am from Istanbul and spent most of my child hood in the vibrant city. It was known for being the trading hub of the world, people from all cultures all around the world would go to trade on the streets of Constantinople. Also mead was a huge part of Viking culture and they were known to drink this delicious honey gold beverage out of horns. It seemed like the perfect brand name representing a part of my self and meads history altogether.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
As a Meadery we produce Mead which is the original alcoholic beverage famously drunk by the Vikings. In its simplest form mead is made by fermenting honey mixed with water, just like how wine is made from fermented grape juice. Because of honey’s soft flavor, mead has the luxury of being mixed with various fruits and spices to make different meads. It also has a variety of styles ranging from carbonated and low alcohol like cider to more elegant and higher alcohol like wine. Back in 2019 I had first heard of mead through the Tv show “Vikings” and it made me very curious to try it out. So I asked my mother to go to a local liquor store and get some mead. I was a little confused that she only brought two but there was only two. To put it shortly both were terrible, way too sweet for me and my family. At the time I was not well versed in tasting alcoholic beverages but over the years as my skills developed I still to this day draw the same conclusions from these widely available commercial meads. I couldn’t believe that is what mead is supposed to be, so I started doing research and learned mead is fermented honey water. I was in my freshman year of college studying chemistry and since I knew the basics of fermentation through school I gave it a whirl. Got some honey and bakers yeast from the supermarket and very unscientifically poured a bunch of honey and water into an old ceramic pitcher and mixed in the yeast. I left the pitcher tucked away for the next 2 months while I was away at college, I had honestly forgot about it until I got back home. To my surprise what I made was not mead… it was moldy vinegar. I began laughing at my self because I knew I did not do enough research and thought my basic understanding would power through. So I began to actually research how to make mead, and my next batch was actually mead, but not delicious mead. From that point forward I began my education in mead making and every following batch I made was better than the last, eventually experimenting with fruits and spices. I was having so much fun with meadmaking I wondered if I would enjoy it as a job, there aren’t many meaderies around so I ended up getting a job at a local winery in the summer of 2021. Over the next 2 years I fell in love with the world of wine and applied everything I was learning at work and in my own time to my mead making. I learned how to taste, proper sanitation and cleanliness practices, and the various processes the wine goes through before entering a bottle. In 2023 I had finished my bachelors in Chemistry with a focus in Biochemistry and felt that I had learned all I could at the winery and decided to throw my self into the world of beer to see what else I can learn. I got a job at a local large brewery in production, the basic concepts from the wine world still applied but there was a lot to learn. Even to this day as I currently hold my position at the brewery while just getting started with the Meadery I find myself regularly learning. I am the most proud of the fact that a dream that had sparked in 2021, through time and hard work is at the cusp of reality as its almost time to launch our website and begin selling.
What I want customers to know about Golden Horn Meadery is that we are dedicated to bringing mead to the forefront of craft beverages, and setting the standard for good quality meads that are meant to be enjoyed, not just tolerated.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Making the decision to leave the Winery to work at the Brewery was particularly hard because that was my first job, I had learned so much over the two years I worked there in-between school semesters and made wonderful relationships. I truly loved every day I spent working there but a part of me knew I was reaching the limit of what I could learn at a small family run winery. It was a hard pill to swallow but I had to trust my gut and move on bigger thing so I can learn more and grow. Although its only been about 9 months since then I definitely did the right thing. I certainly would not have been as prepared as I am now to operate Golden Horn Meadery.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
In my last year in college I had participated in two business plan competitions at Syracuse University, which had prize pools to the top 3 winners. Before the first competition I had zero experience to anything business related, it was a big learning curve as there were a lot of terms I’ve never heard before which I had to understand. There were also aspects to the business that I never thought in-depth about. Although I didn’t win any funding at this competition I learned a lot and it really started to get the ball rolling in developing a sturdy plan. 4 months later was the Whitman’s Panasci Business Plan competition. The Panasci Competition is the most competitive competition at Syracuse Universty and its open to all undergrads, master students and PHD candidates. This is what really pushed me to develop a great business plan because they required a more thought out and finished plan, something you would pitch to investors or a bank. Out of 70 qualifying contestants I came in 4th place, unfortunately still did not win from the prize pool but I learned a lot and was able to speak with the judges afterward. They all gave their suggestions on how I can improve my plan and after making those changes and after I graduated I got to work. 10 months later I’m a few weeks away from launching the store and ready to put all I’ve learned to the test. I fully expect to make lots of mistakes along the way but the beautiful thing about mistakes is that you can learn from them and do better.
Contact Info:
- Website: goldenhornmeads.com
- Instagram: @ghmeadery
- Facebook: Golden Horn Meadery