We married in Nagano, Japan in 1997, and after finding a run-down saskatoon berry farm near Leduc, we moved to our little farm. Even though we had no clue what we were doing, we worked hard in our little greenhouse and berry farm… and before long, we were in love with our new life on this little farm.

Six years ago, we started keeping bees. Everything about bees is magic. But we suddenly had more honey than we could use. We started making mead, the oldest fermented drink. Our first batch was very good. It seemed easy. We were hooked.

Every year we increased our hives. But we discovered making good mead isn’t as easy as we thought. But we stayed at it, using the berries and herbs we grow here on the farm.

Five years ago, we planted hundreds of sour cherry trees and raspberry bushes. We built more hives… and then it rained heavily for the next three years. Our baby orchards couldn’t cope. The flooding killed most of the seedlings.

We were devastated by the “HIGH WATER,” and nearly gave up. But the idea of quitting was just too painful. We love our honey bees… our flowers… our berries… and now our mead. We decided despair wasn’t an option.

So High Water Honey & Mead was born… at least in our own heads. One day, a coincidence, brought Will to Rig Hand Distillery, where he met Geoff Stewart. Geoff offered a corner of his distillery to hone High Water’s mead-making. High Water mead is now produced for sale at Rig Hand Distillery, in Nisku.

There’ve been a few bumps along the way learn to craft a truly wonderful Albertan mead. We’re only at the beginning, but we believe, with a little help from our friends, we can make the best mead in Alberta… from our own honey… our own berries… our own herbs… and a love and passion for what we’re doing.