Did someone say comparison? I love a comparison!
Be bold with mead. Once you have a good reliable base mead then absolutely experiment.
Citrus, ginger or chilli/peppers (capsicumel) are favourites of mine.
I tend to do 3 or 4 small batch, 2.5 ltr brews with varying amounts of an individual ingredient then see which one comes out best.
Go wild
T