I cannot speak for how authentic is the modern day recipe compared to what the author found. But it’s a mead. It’s sweet and contains alcohol :)
Btw (bitter) beer mixed with mead makes for one delicious drink!
Mead is common, the specific "bochet" style mead (using caramelised honey), not so much.
The article is about bochet, very specifically. The article's introduction is pretty clear that both mead itself and various ancient styles of mead have survived to the modern age e.g.
> “It truly is a lost style. It’s not a historical style that has survived into the modern era,” says Heit. “It’s literally something that disappeared.”