# Thinking of Spring - Apple Blossom Mead?



## the_rayway (Jan 23, 2014)

Has anyone tried this? My Lilac Mead tastes wonderful and I'm thinking of bottling soon, and was wondering if Apple Blossom Mead would do as well.

Anyone? For clarity: I mean using apple blossom flowers and a mild flavoured honey.


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## ckvchestnut (Jan 23, 2014)

Hey Rayway... Never tried it but sounds good and so does your lilac one! Did you post your lilac recipe? How many lbs or gals of blossoms and what sz batch? Was it just the lilacs and honey? I have tons of lilac here never thought about making this but you're making it sound good! I'm sure the apple one would taste nice but probably more subtle? That would be something to try for sure! I'll have to wait til spring to do anything like that. What about magnolia blossoms? I get lots of those too!


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## the_rayway (Jan 23, 2014)

Hey Carolyn, I've got it posted here: http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f5/notes-my-wine-mead-making-newbie-32900/index6.html#post437833

So far it's like a floral, dry Gewurztraminer. Loving it! I'm hoping I might be able to get my hands on some apple blossom honey or other 'exotic' (for here) types to try with this. Maybe it will bump up the flavour from the flowers?


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## ckvchestnut (Jan 23, 2014)

Ya that sounds nice... What about manuka honey? Have you tried that for flavour? I personally have never made mead before so this would be a first! I'll check your link thanks


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## ckvchestnut (Jan 23, 2014)

OMG that was a long thread! So much info wow! You're lucky you can get your hands on cheap honey! What's the name of that place you get vanilla beans from? I was going to buy from eBay but it seems like yours was the better deal! That blueberry wine looked so pretty in the glass! That will be on my list of to dos. Blueberry and/or blueberry blackberry...


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## ckvchestnut (Jan 23, 2014)

I found it thanks... No need to reply on the vanilla food company!


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## the_rayway (Jan 23, 2014)

LOL!! Too funny. I've sadly neglected that thread and need to update it. I just placed an order with Vanilla Food Co. for my next 1/2 lb of beans. Can't wait!


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## Deezil (Jan 23, 2014)

the_rayway said:


> Has anyone tried this? My Lilac Mead tastes wonderful and I'm thinking of bottling soon, and was wondering if Apple Blossom Mead would do as well.
> 
> Anyone? For clarity: I mean using apple blossom flowers and a mild flavoured honey.




Errr.. It might? I don't think I'll ever make an apple blossom mead myself though, as every blossom is the loss of an apple.. And I'd rather have the apples, myself..


But it sounds pretty cool, I'd just be more likely to make flower/herb meads from things that didnt turn into edible fruit. 

Can make apple juice, apple cider/cyser, apple sauce, apple butter, caramel apples, apple pie, from apples... Apple blossoms - not so much lol

Curious to see how it turns out if you try it though, because I know I never will lol


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## ckvchestnut (Jan 23, 2014)

the_rayway said:


> LOL!! Too funny. I've sadly neglected that thread and need to update it. I just placed an order with Vanilla Food Co. for my next 1/2 lb of beans. Can't wait!




Ya I'll be placing an order shortly as well thanks for sharing the links! It's nice to find links to cdn supplies! Where do u get your kits and wine making supplies? My local place doesn't always have the best selection or always stocked up but it serves me for now...


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## ckvchestnut (Jan 23, 2014)

I agree on the issue of not having the apples! If you don't own an apple orchard you'd kind of want all the apples you could get from your own crop. Me for instance I have 2 huge northern spy type trees and one 5 in one tree and maybe 6 crabapples... But if you can get your hands on all those blossoms from somewhere else it might be worthwhile?


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## the_rayway (Jan 24, 2014)

Wow, apples are the one thing I'm not short on!

My neighbour has a huge crab tree that I get a couple hundred Lbs from, and I belong to a group called Fruit Share: people don't want/don't have time for their apples call us and we pick them, give 1/3 to the owner (they almost never want), give 1/3 to charity, and keep 1/3. There are so many apple tree owners in Winnipeg that sign up only 50% get picked! I could literally pick trees every day through the harvest season if I wanted! Each pick gets each volunteer on average about 200Lbs.

So...apple blossoms I have! I'm trying to figure out a supplier of apple blossom honey though. Apparently the flavour profile is gorgeous.


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## the_rayway (Jan 24, 2014)

Carolyn, I get my supplies from one of three outfits in Winnipeg: WineSense, Brewers Direct, and Grape & Grain. They have different selections in each store, and the prices are good. Not sure if they ship though.

I thought there were a few places in ON that shipped - have you checked any of them out?


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## WVMountaineerJack (Jan 24, 2014)

So most apple trees will make to many blooms and have to be thinned out to make decent sized fruits especially for fresh market at least here in the east, not all apple varieties and not each year but many orchardists spray their blooms to knock a percentage out and still might have to thin out the apples anyway. Not as much of a problem with cider apples, but we still want to thin them out enough so they are not so crowded that they cant dry off and rot, picking a bunch of blooms isnt going to hurt the crop so much, especially if you are short. Our apple blooms smell very nice but a little lite, I would think you would really need to pick a bucketfull of apple blooms to get the taste but maybe not. Of course if you can find apple blooms honey the bees would have done more than half the work for you  WVMJ


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## ckvchestnut (Jan 24, 2014)

Thanks Ray! Yup just found another supplier much better than the one I was going to... They have barrels and everything. Ya I too would think the apple blossoms themselves would be light in flagrance this influence... But let us know if you find apple blossom honey! Boy I wish I could get my hands into bee keeping but I'm afraid! Lol


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## Schillnuts (May 9, 2014)

Not sure if anyone is aware of the flavor profile of Manuka honey, but it is BITTER! Learned this from a course about honey bees and tried it myself. If that is what you are hoping for, then it ought to work, but be aware of the ASTRONOMICAL price for that honey (and i thought $5-7 a lb for orange blossom was high). 

The lilac mead sounds great, will have to try that along with a shot at a blueberry lavender mead. Currently have too many irons in the fire and a garage to build, but hey brewing can happen indoors on rainy days whereas construction ought not.


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## the_rayway (May 9, 2014)

I like the sound of the blueberry lavender - yum!

I did actually find a supplier of apple blossom honey in Canada: https://beesweetontario.com/products/09)-Wild-Apple-Blossom-Honey.html I'll have to get on that this spring. The trees aren't even budding yet, so I've got some time


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## SouthernChemist (May 10, 2014)

the_rayway said:


> I like the sound of the blueberry lavender - yum!
> 
> I did actually find a supplier of apple blossom honey in Canada: https://beesweetontario.com/products/09)-Wild-Apple-Blossom-Honey.html I'll have to get on that this spring. The trees aren't even budding yet, so I've got some time



Funny how things work...down here people are already complaining about the 85-90 degree days we've been having!


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## the_rayway (May 16, 2014)

Unless it's too hot to sleep - you will NEVER hear me complain that it's too hot. Seriously, all I have to do is think about winter and I feel nice and cool.

I'm going to be sending out flyers to some folks on my block about picking their apple blossoms. It's still a few weeks early, but I like to be prepared. 

Chemist - what recipe are you looking at for the blueberry lavender?


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## SouthernChemist (May 18, 2014)

the_rayway said:


> Unless it's too hot to sleep - you will NEVER hear me complain that it's too hot. Seriously, all I have to do is think about winter and I feel nice and cool.



Funny enough, I got to enjoy the experience of no air conditioning (it was close to 80 degrees in my place even windows open) the other night when the power went out earlier that day due to weather. It didn't come back on until practically sunrise the next day. All the things we take for granted in the modern world make life pretty difficult when you have no electricity.


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