# Horseradish mead?



## BernardSmith (Jan 29, 2020)

Just curious if anyone on this forum has tried to make a horseradish mead or wine. I see that about 9 years ago someone referred to horseradish wine but no one seemed to take the idea seriously. The thing is that in Eastern Europe there is a long tradition of making horseradish infused vodka and by all accounts those who make it tend to let the horseradish sit in the vodka for only a few days, so I am wondering whether that might be the way to go for a horseradish mead (a traditional that is then used to extract flavors and character from the horseradish). I am thinking about making this as a drinking wine and not as a marinade or cooking wine: a "European" variation on a habanero mead Thoughts? Thanks


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## cmason1957 (Jan 29, 2020)

I am in the don't take the idea seriously camp. I love horseradish on my still mooing Prime Rib, but not much beyond that.


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## franc1969 (Jan 29, 2020)

Interesting thought, but I would start with a finished bottle of mead and try an infusion first. I have some horseradish growing, maybe when I can harvest next year I will try that vodka idea.


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## BernardSmith (Jan 29, 2020)

My plan is to start with a vodka infusion, not 750 ml! but perhaps 200. and if that meets my expectations I will create a sacrificial quart of mead and if that seems to work then I will go for a gallon.


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## BernardSmith (Feb 7, 2020)

So, I added about 3 inches of horseradish - cleaned but not peeled and cut into 1/4 inch roundels to about 500 ml of vodka. I allowed the horseradish to steep for 4 days and then strained the vodka. The flavor is really good - if you like horseradish. I think that the flavor will mellow over the next few weeks but it is certainly already very drinkable, though I think I might remove the horseradish after 3 days next time I try to make a horseradish vodka. I am certainly going ahead with the idea of making a horseradish mead (if people can make mead with all kinds of hot peppers , horseradish is not chopped liver) but my plan is to add some of this schnapps to a sample of a traditional wildflower or clover mead, in the first instance, to see if I can balance the honey flavors with the sharpness of the radish and if that seems to be OK then to use the mead to extract the flavors from the horseradish to see what if any differences there might be in using a lower alcohol solution to extract and blend flavors.


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## hounddawg (Jun 17, 2020)

well i must say you think way outside the box, i admire that.
Dawg


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## BernardSmith (Jun 18, 2020)

In the end the four days steeping was a little excessive. I made a second batch using the same amount of horseradish and vodka (about 500 ml) and steeping for 24 hours and this was right on the money for me. Still to make a horseradish mead... but too many other projects in the pipeline at the moment - including what I hope is a good mulberry harvest from a tree that we share with my neighbor.


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## hounddawg (Jun 25, 2020)

go for a sassafrassa mead,,, heck i picture your wine room as a laboratory, which i guess they all are, latter on i'm going for a sassafras wine, i already make sassafras tea every couple years, ,,well till i got unhealthy , so been a few years now,,,
dawg


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## BernardSmith (Jun 25, 2020)

I am originally from Scotland and I have no idea what sassafrass looks or tastes like or even where it grows.


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## sour_grapes (Jun 25, 2020)

BernardSmith said:


> I am originally from Scotland and I have no idea what sassafrass looks or tastes like or even where it grows.



It is a root that has a slight, I don't know, fennel or anise taste. One form that it may be purchased in looks like curls of wood. It is what puts the "root" in "root beer." I am assuming you probably have tasted root beer by now? But now try imagining that without sugar.


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## ceeaton (Jun 25, 2020)

sour_grapes said:


> It is a root that has a slight, I don't know, fennel or anise taste. One form that it may be purchased in looks like curls of wood. It is what puts the "root" in "root beer." I am assuming you probably have tasted root beer by now? But now try imagining that without sugar.


Common' Paul, use proper Penns-a-vania vernacular, it's "rut beer" around these parts.


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## hounddawg (Jun 25, 2020)

BernardSmith said:


> I am originally from Scotland and I have no idea what sassafrass looks or tastes like or even where it grows.


wow, i never gave it any thought, beings i grew up with it, when the chiggers and seed ticks back off, if you want some i'd send you some, now for spoiled_grapes,, lol,, i have you know i put sugar in my sassafras tea same as my sweet tea, lol
dawg


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## BernardSmith (Jun 25, 2020)

Truth is I don't think I have ever tasted a root beer but then I don't remember the last time I drank a soda either. Those drinks are so sweet that I feel them eating into my teeth when I look at a bottle


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## hounddawg (Jun 25, 2020)

BernardSmith said:


> Truth is I don't think I have ever tasted a root beer but then I don't remember the last time I drank a soda either. Those drinks are so sweet that I feel them eating into my teeth when I look at a bottle


i've got so much cheyenne, comanche and cherokee in me that sugar really destroys my body and just a touch of english and irish, but being southern, everything is fried and everything else is sweet, 
dawg


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## hounddawg (Jun 25, 2020)

ceeaton said:


> Common' Paul, use proper Penns-a-vania vernacular, it's "rut beer" around these parts.


you ought to be southern and try to order syrup (SRUP) there from the drive up at mcdonalds , i worked in washington, scranton philly, shucks i forget the other city iit had a strange name it was over near where yawls baseball team, getting old just can't remember,,,, i was sup doing stores in shopping malls
dawg allentown was the name, dang i remembered


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## BernardSmith (Jun 25, 2020)

hounddawg said:


> wow, i never gave it any thought, beings i grew up with it, when the chiggers and seed ticks back off, if you want some i'd send you some, now for spoiled_grapes,, lol,, i have you know i put sugar in my sassafras tea same as my sweet tea, lol
> dawg


You add sugar to your tea? I drink coffee black and unsweetened and I drink my tea without milk or sugar too.


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## sour_grapes (Jun 25, 2020)

BernardSmith said:


> TThose drinks are so sweet that I feel them eating into my teeth when I look at a bottle



I am with you there, Bernard!


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## hounddawg (Jun 26, 2020)

BernardSmith said:


> You add sugar to your tea? I drink coffee black and unsweetened and I drink my tea without milk or sugar too.


ok i'm sorry, in the south sweet tea is ice cold tea on ice, and yes 80% of us drink it sweet, i use black tea and orange ponoka tea, i boil it till very strong, stir in a cup of sugar per gallon of tea, put in fridge till very cold, my coffee is tim hortons dark roast, straight up black, no milk, no sugar, hehe, no hot tea here, at no cafe around here that i've ever seen, now up in the new england states and upper north east they drink hot tea, and their iced tea is unsweetened,
dawg


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## BernardSmith (Jun 26, 2020)

dawg , So there is another wine you might consider making - a tea wine. (I've made wines from chai tea and from lapsang souchong (the last was quite deliciously smokey).


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## hounddawg (Jun 26, 2020)

whats souchong

dawg


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## BernardSmith (Jun 26, 2020)

Lapsang souchong is a tea from China whose leaves are smoked as they are dried and the wood used in smoking the tea imparts a very distinctive smokey flavor. I don't drink a lot of tea (I prefer coffee) but lapsang tea is delightful if you like smoked flavors and if you make tea with tea leaves and not tea bags filled with tea leaf dust (American tea is undrinkable if you have grown up in Britain and you use a teapot to brew tea: one teaspoon of leaves for each cup PLUS one for the pot).


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## ceeaton (Jun 26, 2020)

I love lapsang souchong as a straight tea, no sugar. My wife prefers loose tea in a tea ball we have on a "stick" I got years ago. She unfortunately pollutes it with sugar and cream, to each their own. We used to have a place in Mechanicsburg called The Rosemary House that had a nice selection of diverse loose teas. I lived just up the street and whenever I came in she would tell me what just came in and that's how I tried some decently fresh lapsang. Haven't been there in years but it looks like their website is still up and running. I think the owners' daughter had an interest in the business, so hopefully it is still as good as I remember (memories always seem better than reality).






The Rosemary House & Gardens – Established 1968







www.therosemaryhouse.com


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## hounddawg (Jun 26, 2020)

BernardSmith said:


> Lapsang souchong is a tea from China whose leaves are smoked as they are dried and the wood used in smoking the tea imparts a very distinctive smokey flavor. I don't drink a lot of tea (I prefer coffee) but lapsang tea is delightful if you like smoked flavors and if you make tea with tea leaves and not tea bags filled with tea leaf dust (American tea is undrinkable if you have grown up in Britain and you use a teapot to brew tea: one teaspoon of leaves for each cup PLUS one for the pot).


nooooo tea ice cold, hehe, my grandmother was full blooded cherokee, so i learned to boil my tea till the top is covered in tea oil, then add sugar and chill,,, in my life i have taken one sip of hot tea earl grey, not for me, i have many different tea balls and tea baskets, but i mix close to what lepton makes, with out teagrounds how would you get you future told,,, lol
dawg


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## BernardSmith (Jun 27, 2020)

Early Grey tea is a black tea with bergamot flavoring. That's not everyone's favorite cuppa tea.


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