In a sentence, mead is honey, water and yeast, put into action together to create alcohol. Like in wine must or beer wort, the yeasts transform the honey sugars, with results varying based on the particularities of each ingredient. Its extreme simplicity is how it was discovered first, arriving in advance of its agriculture-dependent successors. This also allowed it to take many different shapes around the world as different cultures integrated it into their lives and thus shaped its expression to their circumstances.

Meads can be made with fruit or hops and grains, other plants, as long as the fermentation of honey provides its alcoholic base. It is not a distilled alcohol. It can be deep and woody or light and acidic, sparkling or flat, wine-like, beer-like, or just incomparable. Its aromas and flavors can range from spiced to floral to tropical to bee hive, going far beyond just sweet. Many set styles do exist, with relatively fixed specifications (more in some countries than others), but it is always something that takes on the characteristics of its maker. This high level of variability means that a mead exists for an equal variety of tastes and situtations. 

At the moment, the most defining characteristics of European mead are that it is mead made in Europe from European honeys. There is no limit to its style or method, as each European mead maker should be allowed to express themselves through their work. While procedural criteria is not required, a certain spirit is needed nonetheless, derived from the highly artisanal nature of the drink. It can be found in meaderies big and small on the continent, shown through their knowledge of their ingredients, their attention to quality, and their desire to contribute positively to the mead community.     

Historically in Europe, a divide in drinking culture developed between the regions capable of making wine and those which were too cold. In warmer areas, mead took on sometimes more medical aspects like in Roman and Greek cultures, retaining certain and specific importance but losing its position in regular consumption. In contrast, the further north a region was, the more likely mead had more frequent appearances at the dinner table and social events.
With the advent of industrial scale beer and wine, this habitual use continued to reduce all over, as mead makers could often not produce enough and at sufficiently low cost to provide on such a scale. This pushed mead making into a situation where local, almost isolated, use was where it survived. It was sustained by small producers, often beekeepers themselves, who shared it with the people around them or commercialized it in the local markets. Mead also was kept alive in regions that for one reason or another kept their habits of fermenting honey, usually areas with a specific cultural importance for bees and beekeeping. Many large meaderies can be found in these places today because of it.
Behind the craft beer explosion in the early 2010s in North America and its subsequent European invasion, interest in both traditional and modern meads have been growing behind it. These small pockets of traditions and personal habits have been slowly percolating in an era where people are looking for authentic and unique experiences in what they drink. Today European mead is something that creates these by drawing on traditional and innovative unknown pleasures, offering special terroirs of different honeys.

Choosing a mead can be as complicated or as simple as you want it to. but there are always a few rules you can follow to ensure a good experience.
1. Always make sure a mead you are buying is a fermentation of honey and not some other mix. While this seems self explanatory, mead is an under-controlled appellation in many countries, and many large producers will try to pass honey sweetened mixtures off as true meads. These honey beers, wines, and liqueurs all may be products of merit in and of themselves, but they are not mead. Ask the seller for details and carefully read the label if unsure.
2. Think about what you want to taste when you are buying. There will usually be a certain sweetness in whatever mead you are purchasing, but how that and the other flavor elements present themselves will affect the desired experience. At markets you can often taste but in stores it is sometimes necessary to rely on aesthetic codes; for example, a mead aiming to give a beer or cider like experience will be packaged differently than one trying to give more of a sweet digestif feel.
3. Buy local. As there is limited mead distribution in many areas, the mass market offerings are less likely to be based on availability more than quality. Look in local markets, and liquor stores that have a more refined product selection. Going to bars that serve more regional and curated selections is also a great way to explore what’s available before investing in a few cases.
4. Ask for explanations about the bottles you are considering. Often mead makers will be selling directly, so it presents a good opportunity to learn more about a particular cuvée and learn the story behind the bottle. A good wine merchant or beer seller should be able to give at least rudimentary direction in style, either through their own tasting experience or a general comprehension of a certain bottle type.