# improving the flavor of meads with spices/herbs



## shanek17 (Aug 25, 2012)

I read this article about improving the flavor of mead and I am now preparing to try this out. The article suggests using a tea bag or cheese cloth to hold your herbs or spices and to suspend them in the mead. But this brings up some questions for me. 

Such as, when do I add them to the mead, and how long can I safely leave them in the mead. I was thinking of letting the herbs bulk age with the mead, but the article mentions the chance of rotting. The article actually says that you can extract alot of flavor by adding the herbs/spices at the time of fermentation, because the heat and the alcohol will help extract the flavour, but they also warn that after 10 days of this they will start to rot and affect the flavor. 

also is it safe to suspend a metal mesh ball in the mead? (see my picture) and is it safe to drop cheese cloth in mead without negatively effecting the flavor?

My mead is currently at 1.020 SG and I am thinking this may be a good time to add the herbs, since there is now alcohol and its still fermenting with heat so it should be a good time to add them in there rite? 

Is it a bad idea to use fresh/wet herbs? I have successfully made my first herb garden and have a ton of Dill weed that I would like to try out, i know a funky idea but I like to experiment! 


What can I do to improve the aroma of my mead?
https://winemakermag.com/stories/art...oma-of-my-mead
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## fatbloke (Aug 27, 2012)

Same answer(s) as over at Gotmead. 

Or of course, you could always try making a tincture and add that.

The herbs/spices being steeped in a high strength alcohol for as long as you want to chance it (the higher the strength alcohol, the greater the preservative effect).

Then as long as you know that you added X amount of herb/spice to Y amount of alcohol, you can use a small measuring jug/cylinder of some sort to work out how much of the "flavour" you're adding. 

It's a handy way, as it's easy to add more, but if you add too much first off, it's hard to remove or even mask the excessive flavour with something else.


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## saramc (Sep 3, 2012)

As long as that infusion ball is made of stainless, chain too, you can opt to use it.

Aroma of wine/mead can be impacted by the ingredients you use, type of honey, addition of fruit/herbs/flowers, the yeast PLUS the entire fermentation process itself. Aroma notes should also change based upon the temperature during assessment...a wine served at 53F should have a different nose when compared to one that is served at room temperature.

As far as herb addition...I have added herbs/spices/flowers during all stages (prefermentation, when S.G. has dropped by 2/3, and post-ferment). For me, it just depends on what I am wanting to add, then I start to research what others have shared about their experience with it. BUT overall, I think it just depends on the particular herb/spice/flower because they are NOT created equally.
As far as dill, I would add it during the last 1/3 of fermentation and remove when satisfied with taste VERSUS add after ferment is complete and you are bulk aging--and remove when satisfied with taste. I guess if you love dill you may like that mead, but perhaps you will have a good base for a salad dressing (mead, oil, vinegar). Let us know what you do and how it turns out.


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## mmadmikes1 (Sep 3, 2012)

My newest mead is Lavender/Passion flower. I mad a tea and fermented it. Never put the Lavender or passion flower into fermenter. Tasted it this weekend and the flavor is good. I used 3 oz of both dried. It was an experiment, next time I will only use 2 oz of each in 6 gallons


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## shanek17 (Sep 4, 2012)

mmadmikes1 said:


> My newest mead is Lavender/Passion flower. I mad a tea and fermented it. Never put the Lavender or passion flower into fermenter. Tasted it this weekend and the flavor is good. I used 3 oz of both dried. It was an experiment, next time I will only use 2 oz of each in 6 gallons



That sounds fun, i know lavender but im not sure about passion flower. Maybe its one of those flowers that i know about and just dont know the name. 

I dont understand though, you say you made the tea and fermented it but you didnt put the flowers into fermenter. So how did you make the tea?


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## mmadmikes1 (Sep 4, 2012)

When I steep Lavender too long when I make tea to drink it developed a nasty after taste. I was pretty sure it would do same in fermenter. Passion Flower has some tranquillizing effects. So >>>>>>>> you know, double whammy


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## mmadmikes1 (Sep 4, 2012)

I have also added 3 ground vanilla beans to 6 gallons and 1 whole bean floating. Now that WAS wonderful stuff at 2 years


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## saramc (Sep 4, 2012)

I made what I thought was a nice mead by using dried hibiscus flowers, dried rosehips and dried elderflowers. Essentially made a gallon of tea using those ingredients, dosed with nutrient, honey to 1.085 and then the tea ingredients were placed in a straining bag and added to the ferment. I removed them the morning of the 3rd day. Added orange peel (no pith) when the S.G. had dropped by two-thirds & removed when mead fermented dry. Backsweetened just a bit. Cleared quickly and was a nice drink 3 months after it fermented dry. [I ended up tripling the recipe and made 3 gallons, instead of one--good decision!]

Have not used my dried lavender or dried fragrant roses just yet....but I plan to.


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## tonyandkory (Sep 4, 2012)

JAOM uses cloves and cinnamon sticks and such and they sit in the carboy for two months and don't seem to rot... may depend on type of spice added but I would think that the few days (comparably) primary involves you should be safe.


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## intoxicating (Sep 4, 2012)

When buying honey, be sure it really is honey. Anything imported from outside the US is honey flavored CORN SYRUP and can legally be labeled as honey. Call up the business and ask where their hives are. The taste and texture are completely different.


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## shanek17 (Sep 4, 2012)

intoxicating said:


> When buying honey, be sure it really is honey. Anything imported from outside the US is honey flavored CORN SYRUP and can legally be labeled as honey. Call up the business and ask where their hives are. The taste and texture are completely different.



So true. I just read that in an article and its it has been legal in the us for awhile now... Also store bought honey is heated very high so that it remains a liquid in the grocery store. but now im wondering about canadian honey.. Does anyone know if its legal to sell corn syrup "honey" in canada? 

I wasnt sure so i just went to the local apiary farm and bought liquid clover honey. it was so good!!


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## mmadmikes1 (Sep 5, 2012)

I usually get a better price at the local honey places for top quality honey so I seldom use store honey with exception of Costco honey. It is a local (Moses Lake) honey for us in Washington and it is 100% US honey and is not heated(So I was told).


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## shanek17 (Sep 6, 2012)

It appears canada and europe have banned the importation of chinese fake honey... lets hope this is still in effect and that the other countries will follow this lead. After all quality is what we all strive for here.

http://www.endtimesreport.com/storing_honey.html

The honey normally sold in stores is NOT pure, raw honey. It is blended, heated, and generally not of origin in this country, let alone local. America is one of the few countries in the world where most honey is sold in liquid form. Note that honey is sold by weight (avoirdupois), and not by volume (pints, quarts, etc). To attain and maintain that liquid state for a long shelf life in retail stores, honey must be heated to 181 F for 24 hours, which destroys most of the inherent good qualities of honey. Indeed, the heating produces the chemical hydroxymethyfurfural (HMF), which in Europe is considered an unwanted adulterant, and heated American honey is therefore illegal to sell in Europe due to their pure food laws (Dr. Roger Morse, "Gleanings in Bee Culture," March, 1985).

It has been said that "honey is honey, as long as it has FDA approval, so you might as well buy it from a discount store." Nothing could be further from the truth. The Clinton Administration allowed the importation of Chinese "honey" as early as 1992, which sold for $0.25 per pound, wholesale. Studies in Canada found that Chinese "honey" was at least 40% corn syrup, contained carmel coloring, and Canada joined Europe in banning its importation.


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