# Black tea



## mmadmikes1 (Sep 24, 2009)

OK somewhere I read and cant find it, that adding Black tea adds tannins and body to Big Reds. Some one what to give me the particulars.Like how much, when is good, when to add ect ect ect


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## BobF (Sep 24, 2009)

CJJ Berry says to brew a strong cup and add no more than a tablespoon ...


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## mmadmikes1 (Sep 24, 2009)

1 table spoon to how much wine? and when


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## BobF (Sep 25, 2009)

mmadmikes1 said:


> 1 table spoon to how much wine? and when



Hold on a sec while I get the book ....

OK, I'm back. He says:

It's one teaspoonful (not table spoon, sorry) per gallon for flower and grain wines. 1/2 teaspoonful for others.

The passage of interest begins at the bottom of page 44 ...

The context suggests that 1 teaspoonful of strong tea is equal to 1 teaspoonful of grape tannin


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## winemanden (Sep 30, 2009)

It depends a lot on what your ingredients are. You'd be better off buying some tannin from your Homebrew retailer and following the recommendation on the packet or bottle.

CJJ Berry is from my era when there were no Homebrew outlets at all in the UK. The problem with using tea is that you don't know how much tannin you're putting in your wine. 

Don't worry though, it's removable, better if you can get it right at the start though.

Tannins are a good preservative. I'm still here!

Regards, Winemanden.


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## mmadmikes1 (Sep 30, 2009)

I have tannin, was just interested in all possiblilties


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## St Allie (Sep 30, 2009)

I have made 1 gallon wines and put a whole cupful of strong tea into it.. with no problems at all in taste in the finished wines. I don't have any powdered tannin.. so if a recipe calls for it.. I get my teabags out and fire up the kettle.

It's an ingredient that actually tones down with time in the bottle anyway. Most fruit wines need at least a year in the bottle ( apart from rapid wines such as grapefruit which is generally drunk young.) It adds to body and helps preserve the wine.

Experiment with it..Cellar it a bit longer if it needs to soften down more...

.. adding 1 teaspoon of brewed black tea per gallon would be a waste of time in my opinion I wouldn't think it would be enough to add anything really to the wine.

Allie


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## mmadmikes1 (Sep 30, 2009)

Thanks St Allie( I love typing that) I never want to ever stop playing, as soon as i start cookie cuttering wine making I am going to quit. If I cant do some thing differnt and see what happens .The fun will be gone. I dont mind throwing out mistakes as long as I learn from them


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## winemanden (Oct 1, 2009)

Sounds as though your attitude towards life is the same as mine Mike. I've been winemaking for 50 years and I'm still learning and enjoying it. You never know exactly how your wine is going to turn out. If it's not quite up to your expectations, mix it 50/50 with soda or lemonade in your glass and enjoy it that way.

By the way, I've just checked back through my records, back in 2004 we made a tea wine for our club competition. The recipe called for 10 tea bags, brewed for ten minutes per UK gallon (4.5 ltrs). It was a wee bit twangy when it was finished but was quite nice with a years maturing. My Chief Executive (my wife) won the competition and the cup  . My own wine I blended with some Lemon Balm wine which got third prize in the sweet white class the following spring.

Regards to all, Winemanden.


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## BobF (Oct 1, 2009)

winemanden said:


> CJJ Berry is from my era when there were no Homebrew outlets at all in the UK.



In my copy of CJJ Berry, he makes frequent reference to homebrew/wine making supply stores.


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## winemanden (Oct 1, 2009)

*Homebrew/ Winemaking Suppliers*

Yes you're right about that Bob, but I was referring to his earlier years. He was making wines long before his book was first published. He was also I believe a founder member of the first Winemaking guild in the UK at Andover, after which the Homebrew craze erupted in the UK and clubs sprang up all over the UK. He also was publisher and editor of a monthly magazine, The Amateur Winemaker, sadly no longer available.

Regards, Winemanden.

PS Just remembered, up until 1963 Beermakers had to have a licence to brew beer at home. It was after that date when Homebrew shops proliferated.


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## Luc (Oct 1, 2009)

BobF said:


> In my copy of CJJ Berry, he makes frequent reference to homebrew/wine making supply stores.



Maybe a new print........

In my (translated to Dutch) version he still uses bakers yeast and suggest that you might want to visit a HBS to buy some wine-yeast !!!

Luc


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## BobF (Oct 1, 2009)

Luc said:


> Maybe a new print........
> 
> In my (translated to Dutch) version he still uses bakers yeast and suggest that you might want to visit a HBS to buy some wine-yeast !!!
> 
> Luc



I'm pretty sure mine is printing #3,097,432,003 ;-)


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