# A question about tej - Ethiopian honey wine



## BernardSmith

I have seen some recipes for a traditional Ethiopian mead called Tej. The wine seems to call for just three ingredients - honey, water and a plant called gesho. Has anyone on this forum tried to make tej? My sense is that those who make it seem to use the wild yeasts that are associated with the gesho stalks. I am planning on making a small quantity without adding any yeast and another batch using wine yeast but if you have made tej did you have any luck just using only the yeasts the gesho introduced?


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## Deezil

I know the show Brew Masters, which had all of 5 episodes, following Dogfish Head Brewery - in one of the episodes, he made an Imperial Stout-beer version of Tej using honey and gesho root with malts... 

I havent made anything of the sort myself, but you might see if you can find the video online - its the "Bitches Brew" episode


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## saramc

I made t'ej using the gesho entchet and kitel (sticks and dried leaves) sold by Brundo.com--used their recipe & actually need to make another batch. Was quite successful, it received comments about it smelling like juicy fruit gum.


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## BernardSmith

Saramc, You used only the natural yeasts in the entchet and kitel or you added your own yeast? (I am assuming that there are no effective colonies of yeast in the honey).


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## saramc

BernardSmith said:


> Saramc, You used only the natural yeasts in the entchet and kitel or you added your own yeast? (I am assuming that there are no effective colonies of yeast in the honey).



Correct, relied upon the natural yeast from the gesho..though you can jump start with a touch of D-47(or lees from last batch of t'ej). Will warn you mold is normal when making t'ej; though if you stir and keep gesho submerged it is more controlled, but normal. Next go round I plan to bottle pasteurize because I want to backsweeten without sorbate. Use raw honey if you can. Check this out, http://ethiopianfood.wordpress.com/2011/12/24/tej-in-the-raw/ ... it helps immensely and my t'ej looked just like this. You will want to go traditional winemaking on this..but don't...follow instructions.

There are fruit based t'ej recipes out there, but they do not use gesho but seem to be 'wild yeast' ferments. I vacuum sealed and froze my stuff from Brundo, you get enough for many gallons.


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## seth8530

If it was me I would use some sort of packaged yeast.. And mold scares me... But to each his own.


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## BernardSmith

Hi Seth, I suppose I am not afraid of every mold. Cheese is mold and mushrooms are mold and penicillin is mold.... 

Saramc: you used both the kitel and the entchent in the one batch. Elsewhere, Kloman talks about using 1/3 of a lb of the stalks (the inchent) for every 2 lbs of honey but does not mention how much of the leaves (the kitel) you might use. In the WP blog you point to he talks about using only 1/4 lb of the stems. Do you have notes on how much of the kitel vs entchent that you used? Thanks


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## saramc

BernardSmith said:


> . Do you have notes on how much of the kitel vs entchent that you used? Thanks



Tej Recipe From: Brundo Spices and Herbs (Brundo.com), and I followed the steps in the link provided earlier.

Per gallon:
32 oz of honey
8 oz of ground gesho leaves(hops)
4 oz of gesho sticks
water to 1 gallon

DIRECTIONS Mix and let stand at room temperature for three days.

Take about 6 cups of the mixture and bring to a boil with the hops and gesho stick.

Cook for 15 minute in low heat. Let cool and add to the mixtures. In a sealed container leave at room temperature for 15 days.

If too dry add a cup of honey and leave over night. If too sweet, add more hopps directly into the mixture and let it ferment more. Strain and serve cold.

**Including the leaves(hops) in the fermentation will improve the quality of the t'ej. Once you have a batch brewed you should keep back about 1/4 cup per gallon for your next. *The gesho remains intact thru entire ferment.


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## seth8530

BernardSmith said:


> Hi Seth, I suppose I am not afraid of every mold. Cheese is mold and mushrooms are mold and penicillin is mold....



I just like to know what kind of mold it is before I eat it lol.


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## BernardSmith

Saramc, Many thanks for this recipe. I am certainly going to try it but I have one question: Isn't the gesho is the source of the fermentation and yet the technique is to boil it after three days. Wouldn't that destroy most of the yeasts? Do you find that three days of inoculating the yeast in the honey & water enough to produce a large enough colony of yeast to ferment the sugars?


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## saramc

BernardSmith said:


> Saramc, Many thanks for this recipe. I am certainly going to try it but I have one question: Isn't the gesho is the source of the fermentation and yet the technique is to boil it after three days. Wouldn't that destroy most of the yeasts? Do you find that three days of inoculating the yeast in the honey & water enough to produce a large enough colony of yeast to ferment the sugars?



You are only boiling six cups of the liquid, and you do not have to grab every stick/leaf--never figured out why that is done-- but you still have the remainder of the gallon which is rich with live yeast to reestablish ferment. The recipe is true to its word, and within 72 hours you should have visible signs of ferment, loads of foam, and you will hear it, even more so with raw honey...chalk that up to nutrients in raw honey vs pasteurized honey. I vividly recall at beginning of Day4 the must was literally 'boiling', or so it seemed, it was so active.


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## BernardSmith

I am ordering the gesho twigs and leaves and plan on making a gallon or so when they arrive... Thanks Saramc.


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## BernardSmith

Saramc, Is the 32 oz of honey called for in your recipe 32 fluid oz (volume) ie 2 pints, or weight (oz) (2 lbs)? 2 lbs of honey is about 1 pint volume.


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## saramc

BernardSmith said:


> Saramc, Is the 32 oz of honey called for in your recipe 32 fluid oz (volume) ie 2 pints, or weight (oz) (2 lbs)? 2 lbs of honey is about 1 pint volume.



I have always used weight based measurements for honey, but OG is ultimate goal. For the t'ej recipe I just followed the recipe.

My honey weighs 12#/gal, there are 8 pints/gallon. If in doubt, add honey to reach the SG you desire.


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## BernardSmith

Thanks Sara. I did add more honey. The 2lbs of honey (32 oz) was about 1.25 pts and provided me with an SG of about 1.045 when mixed with enough water to make 1 gallon.(a dilution of about 1:6.5) I have never tasted t'ej but many of the recipes seem to talk about a dilution of 1: 3 or 1: 4 so I added another 2lbs and another +/- 1/2 gallon of water until I had an SG of about 1.090. It's now showing signs of fermentation.


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## cameronharms87

*Modern Recipe*

I'm new to the art of wine making, and I am intrigued by the thought of making Tej, but I'm creeped out by the thought of doing it the old-fashioned natural way. I was considering using a standard herb-meade recipe but I'm not sure if I should just boil the gesho and use the Tea as flavoring or if I should allow the sticks to steep for the entirety of primary fermentation, or both. Any thoughts?


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## BernardSmith

Hi Cameronharms. What I did - and I am not claiming that this is the best way or a good way but it was the way I did it and the t'ej turned out very drinkable - I added the gesho more to act as aroma and bittering hops - and added my own yeast to ferment the mead. I just purchased a new batch of leaves and twigs (from the same source) and this time the twigs have been chopped and the leaves ground... I am planning on making another batch of t'ej this evening using 71B yeast. My plan is to modify the recipe and boil the twigs and leaves for about an hour and then allow the liquid to cool and then dissolve the honey with the cooled water. Since my plan is to add my own yeast I don't need the gesho to ferment the honey.


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## cameronharms87

Gotcha. Good luck and let me know how that works out


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## Rule

Thank you. Some of the best info I have found so far. I think I will make my attempt sometime this week.


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## BernardSmith

Made my second batch of t'ej and bottled it a couple of months ago. My guess is that the idea of boiling some of the gesho may come from the idea of boiling beer hops for flavor. Not clear that gesho needs to be boiled. Not clear that there are alpha acids that require to be isomerized. Of course, I may be very wrong BUT I have not found any problem with a lack of flavor by not heating the gesho. Had a glass a few minute ago and I thought it tasted every bit as good as any commercial t'ej I have tasted .. but I may be biased


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## buzzerj

I have my T'ej in the secondary right now. I picked up a 13oz. bag of gesho inchet at a store around the corner. So how could I refuse? I don't boil the gesho. But for this batch I did use a D47 yeast instead. It turned out dry so I sweetened it up with more honey. Maybe on the next batch I'll just use the gesho to supply the yeast.


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## Rule

This is my first attempt. I will just start off with a gallon. The video makes it look so easy. I did pick up some D47 yeast. I would rather it not be dry but not too thrilled with the idea of mold either.


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## BernardSmith

The D47 will ferment this dry but IMO ( I don't have a particularly demanding sweet tooth) even dry, this mead tastes sufficiently "sweet" because of the gesho. The alcohol is not hot and the mead does not taste "bitter" . It is simply nicely balanced - a little woody? smoky? Not sure how to describe the flavor. It is very drinkable.


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## Rule

Started my 1st two gallon batch of Tej lastnight. Sprinkled alittle D47 yeast in. Now all I can do it wait.


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## Rule

Tej turned out great. Thanks for all the help


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## Grant Izmirlian

I'm thinking that boiling some of the mixture is to break down the sugars in the honey to assist the ferment.


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## BernardSmith

Hi Grant - and welcome, but it looks like you are trying to breath life into a thread that last saw life four years ago. Always better to let dead threads rest in peace and begin your own thread. But given the fact that you are trying to resuscitate the dead let me ask you what sugars are you trying to "break down" ? Honey ain't grain and the sugars that comprise honey are all very simple enough for yeast to easily ferment once you dilute the honey so that it is not so concentrated. I guess you could break down simple sugars to carbon, hydrogen and oxygen but yeast don't ferment those elements. But in tej making I suspect that boiling some of the honey has the effect more of increasing the bitterness of the gesho while also killing some of the bacteria that may be involved in the souring.


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