My first meads I kept very simple:-
3lbs of honey (you can go higher, just don't go lower...)
1 gallon bottled water
1 teaspoon citric acid
1/2 teaspoon malic acid
1 teaspoon nutrient (I use Tronozymol these days, but used to use Youngs Yeast Nutrient), not enough nutrients in honey
1 cup very strong (6 bags) unsweetened black tea
1 packet yeast (CML is good, I've also used Gervin universal wine yeast and Lalvin 71b-1122 (found the Lalvin isn't as strong a ferment, but good for melomels).
Make sure to de-gas the fermenting mead at minimum once a day, twice is better. In 1 gallon DJs I do this by giving it a good swirl.
Will be a while before you'll be able to drink it once done though, straight mead often has a serious burn to it at first. If you want it faster, consider adding spices (metheglin, I found a chopped up vanilla pod bunged in during primary did a lovely job) or fruit (melomel, made a yummy raspberry mead with a load from my mum's garden) to soften the burn. Or just suck it up, and figure you get worst burn drinking shots... :twisted:
I'm currently experimenting with a "hydromel", 680gs of honey, no acids, 1 gallon water, no nutrient and some ale yeast, the idea been to produce a beer strength mead in a short time, then prime it and drink it sparkling (looking for something similar to Lyme Bay's Yore). Problem is, despite using ale yeast, no nutrients etc, it's still bubbling away in primary weeks later... :lol:
Anyway, mead making doesn't have to be complicated is the moral of this tale, keep it simple and at worst you'll get a rough mead that seems a bit on the fizzy side.... At best, you'll get something deliciously rounded that has anybody tasting it converting to been mead drinkers. :thumb: Either way, it'll just about be drinkable.