"Tea" Wine

[Bobp]

Looks ok to me.. mine is fermenting slowly..but is still fermeting..i am worried about H2S..but so far no signs.. temp is 74-80... i might suggest watching it daily.. and when it gets to about 1/2 of where you think it heading.. give it a energizer and nutrient boost.. if it's moving slow.. but you may or should wait for one of the more experienced guys to reply.. good luck and let us know how it goes..

 

[hobbyiswine]

I started it yesterday and had bubbles in about 1 hr. I ended up using EC1118 yeast. Smelling good! I made the simple syrup with the full 4lb bag of sugar and the starting SG was 1.100 on the button.

 

[hobbyiswine]

48 hour update. This thing is going crazy! looks like the primary is boiling! Have the lid on loose. Had quite a bit of foam yesterday but today just a billion CO2 bubbles. SG is down to 1.066.

 

[hobbyiswine]

Day 6 Update

I added 1 tsp of energizer on day 4. The ferment was still going crazy but wanted to give it a little extra kick, plus I just like experimenting. The SG is down to 1.011 today. Temp is 74F. I plan to rack it into the secondary tomorrow or the next day when it gets down to 1.000.

 

[hobbyiswine]

The tea wine I created has been clearing for a couple weeks. It needed to be racked a couple of times but cleared well with the sparkolloid.

 

[Bobp]

Update... the tea wine i have going is doing ok.. i made it too strong, i beleive i'll cut out a couple gallons and replace with boiled water... and take the couple of gallons and cut it with something else...AC is at 13+ ( i'd have to check the book to be exact).... What do you think?

 

[Bobp]

Update..The tea wine is turning out very well... It has been racked 6 times, and seems like it's going to clear up ok... it's always going to be dark with the # of tea bags i used... it's very strong, the AC is a bit too high, for my tatstes anyway's, and at the time before last racking i added some frozen white grape juice with boiled water as an F pac... and it tastes really good.... i beleive i'll bottle it in a couple of months.... Very lillet in the way of lees at the last racking too... i may bentonite it just for giggles at the next racking....
Is anyone aware of how to test for caffine content?

 

[cindy]

I'm making a 1 gallon batch of tea wine I am using constant comments tea its flavored with
orange,cinnamon and clove I'm using 3 pounds of honey and cinnamon sticks.
I'm using a basic 1 gallon mead recipe but instead of adding plain water I'll be adding the tea and cinnamon sticks...

 

[Duster]

This Spring I started a 3 gallon batch of Skeeter Tea.
As you may have guessed, Basically sweet sun tea with lemon into the primary with some nutrient, energizer and Cotes de Blanc yeast. I have racked a couple times, degassed, and stabilized it. she is now in the closet with mother nature doing her thing.Now that I think of it, I probably should check on this one.

 

[roadpupp]

I love to drink "Arnold palmers" half teal and lemonade. Sounds similar? If so, I might try this!

 

[intoxicating]

I made a batch of tea wine using Lapsong Souchong and brown sugar. Used a little cane and malt syrup to back sweeten at bottling, and came up with a very different wine that half of my friends loved and half hated. My son said it tasted "like barbecue sauce and FUN".

Go for it, and tell us how it comes out.

 

[RoyParker]

I'm doing a batch using Gonzo's recipe and it seems to have fermented very slow.

Doesn't seem like it wants to go past 1.010.

Any suggestions?

 

[non-grapenut]

Anyone ever use or hear of anyone adding acid blend to tea wine? Was thinking that the acid for a tea wine would be low and wondered if it might need a few tsp of acid blend but this is just guessing. Anyone have any experience with this?

Tea is acidic already. No need for acid blend.

 

[RoyParker]

Just read back through my notes on the batch of tea wine and I found my mistake....

And a rookie mistake it was.

When it was time to rack from the bucket primary to the glass secondary I did exactly that...
I racked the wine off the lees and washed them down the drain!

No wonder my fermentation has been moving so slow!

Don't think there is enough active lively yeast left to finish it off.

That is why the proper step was to stir the yeast back into suspension and then move everything over to the secondary.

I do have a half packet of yeast left from a earlier experiment, I guess I will pitch that in the morning and see if it will then finish dry so I can move to the next step!

I guess that is what I like about this obsession... there is always something to learn and always take good notes. (Also pay attention to what step you are on when making them notes!)

 

[non-grapenut]

Just read back through my notes on the batch of tea wine and I found my mistake....

And a rookie mistake it was.

When it was time to rack from the bucket primary to the glass secondary I did exactly that...
I racked the wine off the lees and washed them down the drain!

No wonder my fermentation has been moving so slow!

Don't think there is enough active lively yeast left to finish it off.

That is why the proper step was to stir the yeast back into suspension and then move everything over to the secondary.

I do have a half packet of yeast left from a earlier experiment, I guess I will pitch that in the morning and see if it will then finish dry so I can move to the next step!

I guess that is what I like about this obsession... there is always something to learn and always take good notes. (Also pay attention to what step you are on when making them notes!)

Put some more yeast energizer and nutrient in. Check the sweetness too. If dry, add a can of defrosted lemonade (check label that there's no sorbate in it) and all should be fine.

 

[RoyParker]

It did finish nicely with the extra yeast addition.

Racked right away when done to get off all the extra yeast left.

 

[Alexandra Reese]

Has anyone ever tried making tea wine? I was thinking of trying twinnings Earl Grey tea... I have seen recipes for tea wine I just have never tasted any?? Would I be wasting my time?

I am in Primary for my second batch of Mint Tea wine the first batch came out alright I used about 15 walmart brand Mint tea in 3 cups of water for the first batch and let it work for 20 days it was ok the mint was strong but the color does go a bit pale

The batch I have now is about 25 tea bags brewed in 6 cups of water with 1/2 cup honey and 3 cups sugar and is working now and again it went pale but seems to be ok so far

 

[wpt-me]

Did a raspberry herbal tea wine using 32 teabags of Celestial Raspberry. Added a bag of 24 oz. frozen raspberries.
Came out very nice.

Bill

 

[Alexandra Reese]

Bill sounds like something I want to try for sure I am surprised though with mine I have it still in ferment but there appear to be zero activity no more bubbles so I am going to crash it and check it did not go bad

 

[wpt-me]

Alexandra How long have you been fermenting your must? Do you have a hydrometer ?
I put mine into secondary at S.G. .996. Bulk aged for almost a year.

Bill