TR Robertson
TR Robertson — Vista, CA …For Vince Obarski, it started out as a dream in 1991 while stationed in the U.S. Navy in Norway. The dream was a result of tasting a variety of meads drinks while there, developing a love for the taste of Mead and reading a number of books on how to make Mead. The dream was to one day do something about this new found love and perhaps develop this into a business.
Fast forward to the present. Vince is now married, to wife Robin, and along with their partners and friends Mike and
Lisa McCague, they are the proud owners of Vista’s one and only Meadery, Twisted Horn, located at 1042 La Mirada Court in a business park just off of Sycamore. Vince, a former dental hygienist, is the Mead maker. Robin is a co-founder and still works as an insurance underwriter when not managing the back office for Twisted Horn. Co-owner Mike, who is also a chemical engineer, is the Cider maker and his wife, Lisa is the event coordinator, who also runs the tasting room and the tasting room for Twisted Horn. Both Vince and Mike began as homebrewers, with a combined 20+ years of brewing experience between them.
The four friends feel with the number of breweries in this area, there is a place for something a little different and Twisted Horn offers this. At the present time there are only 3 meaderies that offer tasting rooms in the North county area, one in San Marcos and one in Oceanside and now one in Vista. Twisted Horn is open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 4 pm until 9 pm and Saturday from 2 pm until 9 pm and Sunday 2 pm until 6 pm. Five part time employees also help out in the tasting room.
Photos by TR Robertson
Vince indicated that now that Twisted Horn is approaching their 2nd year in business, they will begin to enter more events around the country where meads are pitted against each other. He indicated that the contest in Colorado is the largest, the Mazer Cup, and they hope to enter in the future. They did win 2 silvers and a gold for their meads in the ‘If It Ain’t Beer, Enter It Here” Contest in Temecula.
Twisted Horn Meads are starting to appear throughout North County as well
. They are currently on tap at Partake Gastropub, Flying Pig, Belching Beaver, Mike’s BBQ and several other locations. They are also regulars at the Vista Viking Festival, Meading in the Garden at Alta Vista Botanical Gardens and several Renaissance fairs around Southern California. At the Twisted Horn location they currently pouring 8 meads and 7 ciders.
The rooms at Twisted Horn are available for special events, such as the Mead Hall or the Asgard Room or even all of the Twisted Horn rooms together. They also have a Host Facility Permit, which allows them to partner with local direct sales food vendors and food trucks, who are there Thursdays and Saturdays. The business is also dog friendly, snacks are available and on Thursdays thru Saturdays Food Trucks stop by. Lisa wanted to point out that Twisted Horn also periodically runs game nights, trivia nights, craft nights where painting and leather crafts are taught.
The drink Mead first appeared in 7,000 B.C., found as residue in pottery pieces in China. The drink would appear in Europe around 2,800 B.C. The early process of fermenting honey with water still remains as the key process today. A variety of tastes are acquired by adding fruits, spices, grains and a number of other ingredients. The alcoholic content can range from 3.5% ABV to 20%. Today mead can be carbonated, naturally sparkling, dry, semi-sweet and sweet. The range of type is growing.
At Twisted Horn, memberships are available and depending on what the patron wants to spend, they have the option of becoming a Viking, Victory or Valhalla member with benefit perks varying between each level of membership. It should also be noted that all beverages are gluten free at Twisted Horn.
To give you an idea of the types of meads and ciders Twisted Horn has on tap, the following is a few samples and descriptions of what awaits your visit to the meadery. The current Mead Reserve on tap is The Wizen Elder, made with elderflower and lemon on an orange blossom honey base. The Blushing Maiden mead is made from wildflower honey and cranberry, while the Raven’s Claw is a cyser style mead made with apple and boysenberry. Toby’s Tale is a semi-dry mead with a heavy handed dose of tart cherry. Many more are available.
Examples of the types of ciders available include Ostgard, an eastern-flavored inspired cider with delicate apricot pairs with exotic cardamom. Hidden Stones is a full sweet cider with a generous addition of fresh peach flavor and spicy ginger root. Primal Fire has fresh pressed apples heavily infused with fragrant, spicy cinnamon. Mischief Maker is described as a dangerously drinkable sweet, raw, unfiltered cider. Again, many more flavors are available.
If anyone in your party is a non-cider or mead drinker, Twisted Horn also offers Bent Branch, a non-alcoholic birch root beer soda and Flagon’s foam a tasty non-alcoholic cream soda.
Vince stated Twisted Horn is trying to offer “An Old world style with a twist.” He said they are taking the world’s oldest known fermented beverage and “doing it their way”. He and his “partners” are offering “an alternative to what’s out there and at the same time doing it in a uniquely styled business décor”.
Twisted Horn is a member of the Vista Chamber of Commerce and an affiliate member to the Vista Brewers Guild. Stop by with your friends, give them a try (the best way to try a flight of different flavors). You will like the atmosphere, the service and above all the taste of what they have to offer.
www.twistedhornmead.com Phone – (760) 295-5888
