Sophie Whitney, a 2019 graduate of Abington High School, recently launched MerMead, a new mead drink brand.

According to Whitney, the concept began after she turned 21.

“I was looking for my signature drink when I went out. My parents had gotten some mead from Lancaster, and I loved it. I couldn’t find it anywhere, so I decided to make it myself,” she told Glenside Local.

Whitney attended Temple University to study advertising and entered a Temple-sponsored Shark Tank-esque competition to test out her idea.

“I ended up winning one of those contests and thought this could be an actual idea,” she said. “My dad is a graphic designer and I asked him to design something for me.”

Later, she took third place in “Be Your Own Boss”, an entrepreneurial competition at Temple in the spring of 2023. After graduating, she started her day job and used her contest winnings to invest in the business.

The next step was finding a professional mead brewer to mentor the process.

“I’ve been learning all about mead ever since then,” she said.

MerMead products are currently sold in a Philly bar and a shop in Fairmount, Whitney said, noting that she’s working on connecting with other businesses.

For more on MerMead, you can visit their website.

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Photos: Sophie Whitney