Eastern Redbud - I'm going for it!

[Newbie Mel]

I have been waiting a year to try this after seeing @BigDaveK original post. I first noticed the red buds about a week ago and I’m hoping I don’t miss the optimal harvest time. Going out to hiking trails today to check out. Just a couple trees in my property and they are out of my reach. I did attempt to transplant a few small volunteers in late fall. Not sure if they made it, but if so I will try more in the fall. This is my favorite tree. Signals spring is coming. Also time to look for morels, which I found 5 tiny ones yesterday.

I love spring!

 

[Newbie Mel]

@BigDaveK, Redbuds are blooming at my location. I am thinking about trying this. Have you tried this recently? Would you make it again, any changes?
Is it best to pick flowers when they are in bud or fully opened.

I am experimenting, collected these today, mostly still in bud. Next week will collect more when open.

 

[BigDaveK]

I am experimenting, collected these today, mostly still in bud. Next week will collect more when open.

Last two days I've been munching on forsythia blossoms. Last year they were delicious, this year very bitter. Very disappointed! I'll keep tasting and keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Newbie Mel]

Last two days I've been munching on forsythia blossoms. Last year they were delicious, this year very bitter. Very disappointed! I'll keep tasting and keeping my fingers crossed.

I don’t have forsythia in my yard, that I have I have found, yet. See it in many places around. Hope you find a good one .

Spring is just beginning, many more opportunities ahead.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Hot water will extract more.

The microbiology lab person in me shudders to think of a high sugar solution sitting for a day. I would follow the type of process one uses for dandelion or lilac. ,,, basically pH 3.5 or 3.2 will prevent a lot of families of bacteria from growing. ,,, I know what tea will taste like after 24 hours at 72 degrees ,,,

 

[Rice_Guy]

Last two days I've been munching on forsythia blossoms. Last year they were delicious, this year very bitter. Very disappointed! I'll keep tasting and keeping my fingers crossed.

I wonder if you are tasting tannin?

Bitter, (from an apple point of view), early August crab apple can have a bitter note, ripe September can have an astringent note, after frost November crab can be flavorless. Tannin chemistry; the molecules polymerize and transition from small to big enough to have bitter then a little bigger is astringent taste response and eventually polymerize enough to drop out of solution and become flavorless.

 

[BigDaveK]

I wonder if you are tasting tannin?

Bitter, (from an apple point of view), early August crab apple can have a bitter note, ripe September can have an astringent note, after frost November crab can be flavorless. Tannin chemistry; the molecules polymerize and transition from small to big enough to give a taste response to polymerize enough to drop out of solution and become flavorless.

I'm wondering about this...
Last year I tasted at the end of their life cycle, delicious. This year I'm tasting fresh blooms, bitter. They last a while so who knows what changes they go through. I'll keep tasting!

 

[Huba Huba]

Hot water will extract more.

The microbiology lab person in me shudders to think of a high sugar solution sitting for a day. I would follow the type of process one uses for dandelion or lilac. ,,, basically pH 3.5 or 3.2 will prevent a lot of families of bacteria from growing. ,,, I know what tea will taste like after 24 hours at 72 degrees ,,,

Thanks. Will see how many flowers I can collect today.

 

[Clover]

OK, BigDave!

You inspired me with this post some time ago! I don't have redbud trees, but found two after a nice rain in, of all places, a rural Goodwill store's parking lot. The buds had dried off a bit, and I got permission to forage. With some traffic near the trees, I thought that after a rain they should be somewhat cleansed.

I'm having a ton of company this weekend, so I can't put a batch together. I've put them in the freezer for now. I know you made a tea with fresh, but what do you suggest I do with frozen flowers? Last year I'd had to freeze dandelions, but followed the tea recipe with them nonetheless. Jury is still out on that wine. I'll bottle it this spring.

Any ideas?

Never found time to make redbud jelly, darn it, but the wine turned into another shocker.

The flowers were tart. Must be some kind of acid there. Some flavor, not much, so I went to Test #2 and made tea. What a transformation! Very slight floral aroma but the flavor shocked me - no doubt about it, RASPBERRY! Not a pathetic hint of raspberry, no. More like "Ooh, that's good raspberry!" Oh yeah, we're making wine.

This was my first country wine where the ingredients were collected 15 ft from my front door. It grows like a weed and I have dozens on the property.

View attachment 100532

I used 4 pints (320 gr), 71B, and since it tasted like raspberry I went with citric acid. Before adding sugar it had an SG of 1.020 and a pH of 3.9. With that SG I added sugar to start at 1.100.

View attachment 100533

Transferred this morning at 1.020. Very slight magenta color and I'm curious how it will clear. Incredibly, it still tastes like raspberry!!
Happy so far! Naturally I now have more vac sealed and frozen.


View attachment 100534

 

[Clover]

Never found time to make redbud jelly, darn it, but the wine turned into another shocker.

The flowers were tart. Must be some kind of acid there. Some flavor, not much, so I went to Test #2 and made tea. What a transformation! Very slight floral aroma but the flavor shocked me - no doubt about it, RASPBERRY! Not a pathetic hint of raspberry, no. More like "Ooh, that's good raspberry!" Oh yeah, we're making wine.

This was my first country wine where the ingredients were collected 15 ft from my front door. It grows like a weed and I have dozens on the property.

View attachment 100532

I used 4 pints (320 gr), 71B, and since it tasted like raspberry I went with citric acid. Before adding sugar it had an SG of 1.020 and a pH of 3.9. With that SG I added sugar to start at 1.100.

View attachment 100533

Transferred this morning at 1.020. Very slight magenta color and I'm curious how it will clear. Incredibly, it still tastes like raspberry!!
Happy so far! Naturally I now have more vac sealed and frozen.


View attachment 100534

 

[BigDaveK]

OK, BigDave!

You inspired me with this post some time ago! I don't have redbud trees, but found two after a nice rain in, of all places, a rural Goodwill store's parking lot. The buds had dried off a bit, and I got permission to forage. With some traffic near the trees, I thought that after a rain they should be somewhat cleansed.

I'm having a ton of company this weekend, so I can't put a batch together. I've put them in the freezer for now. I know you made a tea with fresh, but what do you suggest I do with frozen flowers? Last year I'd had to freeze dandelions, but followed the tea recipe with them nonetheless. Jury is still out on that wine. I'll bottle it this spring.

Any ideas?

Hey, lucky you!
I've frozen quite the variety of flowers for this hobby and I use them as if they were fresh. My tea water is never near the boiling point. I think the higher temps can possibly alter ingredients. No proof yet, just anecdotal. Anyway, my water is typically between 160-180F though I'd like to try a cold soak some day for comparison. Maybe this year?

BTW, my redbuds are nowhere near flowering, just getting bud formation now.

Good luck!!!

 

[Newbie Mel]

Update on my experiment using both early buds vs full blossoms. First, disclaimers. I don’t make near as much wine as others on this site and I will forever be a beginner. No conclusions here, just observations. These were started a week apart. The darker one is the buds, starting to open up. The lighter one is flowers were developed. I didn’t follow exactly same procedure. Darker I put the petals in a lightly woven bag , placed in primary and poured about a gallon of hot water over. The lighter one I put the petals in a pot and poured just enough hot water to cover, then let it steep. Probably should have let it steep longer. I then scooped the petals and put them into a more tightly woven bag, placed in primary then added more water. The first one had a lot of particles escape the bag and I had to strain it while transferring to secondary. I used about the same amount of petals pint wise in both batches, but I don’t have a scale (on my list to get). I’m guessing now the earlier buds (they were not totally closed buds, but not sure what to call them, they were starting to flower) weighed more than the more mature blossoms. The color difference is obvious, but taste is harder for me to comment on. When I taste an early wine I can never say what I think it tastes like, or if it even has promise or not. Both seem to be degassing. Lighter one was just transferred yesterday.

 

[BigDaveK]

That's great, @Newbie Mel!
I opened a bottle over the weekend, still delicious, slight rose' color. My redbuds look like thy might be opening in the next few days but we're expecting freezing temps. Guess I'll find out how hardy they are.

 

[Newbie Mel]

There are still a lot around here, but experiencing same cold snap. I can’t get over how many trees I see around here now, just not on my property. Kroger had some for $25 so I got three to plant, hoping they will multiply. Don’t know how many years before they bloom. Found one in corner of property with a few buds on it and curious if next year it will have a lot more. Supposed to be quick growing, correct? When I was gathering them along the roadside I felt like a criminal. Would much prefer having them close by

 

[Terryfirma]

Update on my experiment using both early buds vs full blossoms. First, disclaimers. I don’t make near as much wine as others on this site and I will forever be a beginner. No conclusions here, just observations. These were started a week apart. The darker one is the buds, starting to open up. The lighter one is flowers were developed. I didn’t follow exactly same procedure. Darker I put the petals in a lightly woven bag , placed in primary and poured about a gallon of hot water over. The lighter one I put the petals in a pot and poured just enough hot water to cover, then let it steep. Probably should have let it steep longer. I then scooped the petals and put them into a more tightly woven bag, placed in primary then added more water. The first one had a lot of particles escape the bag and I had to strain it while transferring to secondary. I used about the same amount of petals pint wise in both batches, but I don’t have a scale (on my list to get). I’m guessing now the earlier buds (they were not totally closed buds, but not sure what to call them, they were starting to flower) weighed more than the more mature blossoms. The color difference is obvious, but taste is harder for me to comment on. When I taste an early wine I can never say what I think it tastes like, or if it even has promise or not. Both seem to be degassing. Lighter one was just transferred yesterday.

Thanks for sharing your experiments and observations!. I’m a forever beginner here!.

 

[BigDaveK]

There are still a lot around here, but experiencing same cold snap. I can’t get over how many trees I see around here now, just not on my property. Kroger had some for $25 so I got three to plant, hoping they will multiply. Don’t know how many years before they bloom. Found one in corner of property with a few buds on it and curious if next year it will have a lot more. Supposed to be quick growing, correct? When I was gathering them along the roadside I felt like a criminal. Would much prefer having them close by

They grow relatively fast around here. Last years harvest was almost entirely from a 7 ft tall tree, about 6 years old from seed. Fragile but hard to kill. Had one damaged in a storm (about 3" in diameter), cut what remained of the trunk, roots sent up suckers.

I know the "criminal" feeling! Last year I harvested my black raspberries from state property and on the first day I expected the highway patrol to show up any second! Convince yourself you're supposed to be there, develop a swagger, it gets easier. But just in case, always have an escape route planned.

 

[Rice_Guy]

I expected the highway patrol to show up any second!

you need to get a beige picking uniform with some patches on the shoulder

 

[BigDaveK]

you need to get a beige picking uniform with some patches on the shoulder

That is certainly one option and even looks official, but...I'm thinking ghillie suit.....

 

[Newbie Mel]

Update on my experiment using both early buds vs full blossoms. First, disclaimers. I don’t make near as much wine as others on this site and I will forever be a beginner. No conclusions here, just observations. These were started a week apart. The darker one is the buds, starting to open up. The lighter one is flowers were developed. I didn’t follow exactly same procedure. Darker I put the petals in a lightly woven bag , placed in primary and poured about a gallon of hot water over. The lighter one I put the petals in a pot and poured just enough hot water to cover, then let it steep. Probably should have let it steep longer. I then scooped the petals and put them into a more tightly woven bag, placed in primary then added more water. The first one had a lot of particles escape the bag and I had to strain it while transferring to secondary. I used about the same amount of petals pint wise in both batches, but I don’t have a scale (on my list to get). I’m guessing now the earlier buds (they were not totally closed buds, but not sure what to call them, they were starting to flower) weighed more than the more mature blossoms. The color difference is obvious, but taste is harder for me to comment on. When I taste an early wine I can never say what I think it tastes like, or if it even has promise or not. Both seem to be degassing. Lighter one was just transferred yesterday.

Here’s something interesting, to me. The second batch got darker in secondary, now looks close to first batch in color. Still clearing and haven’t tasted tested, maybe coming up soon.

 

[BigDaveK]

Looks great, @Newbie Mel !

No redbud wine for me this year. I discovered they don't like a couple nights of freezing temps, unopened buds falling everywhere.