[fredthecat]

thoughts on these two ideas?

im lazy and i can get really, really good honey for a decent price but its about  90 min trip there and back. ive had a very great, delicate mead from this before and would like to do it again

 vs. me driving 5 mins to the store and buying the same amount of generic pretty flavourless honey for cheaper and cooking it to make a bochet?

does a bochet turn out really well? im interested in trying it or is it a kind of one-trick pony thing?

[pete b]

I have never made a Bouchet but intend to in the relatively near future.
Either way, this is an easy call for me. Take the drive and get the better honey. I would get a lot of it. I only buy honey in 5 gallon (60#) pails. The price per pound savings is staggering and honey never goes bad so if that much is a lifetime supply for you, so be it, you still saved at least a hundred bucks.

[dmtaylor]

Here's how I made a low-ish ABV (about 9%) mead/cyser that won a Best of Show:

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=24611.msg314213#msg314213

[Drewch]

I usually aim for 5-8% on my meads (maybe technically hydromels at those strengths), and I've done bochets a couple of times, and I still feel like I need to do a couple more iterations to get it dialed in. I think I'm still chickening out before it gets dark enough, but I think it does add some complexity to cheap Kirkland honey.

So I'd say: Make the drive and get some good honey ... but save it for back-sweetening. Bochet the cheap honey since the heating will probably volatilize the delicate aromatics anyway, and add the good stuff after you're done with the hot part.

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[pete b]

Don't forget that cheap honey has a good chance of being adulterated. Your making something out of just honey, yeast, and water. Buy good honey. Save money by buying in bulk.