Mead of the Bell Beaker Culture (c. 2800–1800 BCE). The earliest surviving description of mead is in the hymns of the "Rigveda", one of the sacred books of the historical Vedic religion and (later) Hinduism dated around 1700–1100 BC. During the Golden Age of ancient Greece, mead was said to be the preferred drink. Aristotle (384–322 BCE) discussed mead in his "Meteorologica" and elsewhere, while Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE) called mead "militites" in his "Naturalis Historia" and differentiated wine sweetened with honey or "honey-wine" from mead. The Hispanic-Roman naturalist Columella gave a recipe for mead in "De re rustica", about
Vital ingredient Vital ingredient Vital Ingredient is a UK company which operates a chain of made-to-order salad and soup bars in London, mainly based in the City and around Soho. The company was founded by Alex Heynes, with the first Vital Ingredient store opening in Soho in 2001. It expanded to 5 stores by 2008. From 2011 to 2015 the company tripled its number of outlets after the company took on some equity investment from property entrepreneur Paul Oberschneider and in 2015 opened its 17th outlet on Artillery Row in Victoria. In early 2015 Paolo Peretti was appointed managing director with 2015