Mead hard apple cider

I use Cider House Select Cider Yeast for this. I pitch it with 2 cups of the mash after the mash is done and cool to the 73 degree.
Boil the gallon of apple cider and the hops for 15 min (only add half of the bag of hops should be .5 oz. add 2nd half at the 1st rack as a dry hop leave for 30 min then pull from cider.)
when the 15 min is up turn the heat off and add the 2 pounds of honey (I use Dutch gold Eucalyptus Blossoms) to the boiling cider. Remove 2 cups of the liquid and let cool to 72 to 76 degree. ( I use a magnate stir for my yeast started and it also helps cool the liquid faster.)
This will not fit in a 1 gallon carboy I use a 2 gallon buckets for this.
I have also done it where I remove the amount of cider to honey where it would fit the one gallon carboy but the abv comes out to about 13% that way and it taste more like a desert wine.