I didn't even know what the equivalent of "wort" was called for mead. Thank you for that.
You're welcome
I assume that mead is probably 100 F at it's hottest?
100*F is the high limit almost. As a professional chef you're probably used to making reductions to intensify flavors. Honey works a little different, at higher temps you can acheive caramelization (as in a bochet type mead) however you sacrafice the volitile compounds that give whatever varietal you are using it's character.
Honey is the real expense when it comes to making mead, and just like anything in the culinary world, better ingredients make a better product. So if you are going to spend a few extra dollars on a delicious single source varietal or even if you come across a great tasting local raw wildflower or clover or whatever is indigenous to your area, you'll want to maintain the flavor and aroma of that honey. All mead varieties, with the exception of a bochet can be made with no heat, it may take a little extra elbow grease and a few more minutes to incorporate the honey and water but in the end it is worth it.
Steeping the chiles at that temperature for a specific time is probably still better than adding them to a cold secondary. Rehydrated chiles aren't exactly as fragrant as hops or honey, but they are very flavorful........................................................................................................... For mead, I would probably steep the dried, toasted chiles in the warm to hot "must" ...(instead of hot water before adding to a soup). ........................................................................................................... I would skip a few steps there, chop up the toasted chiles and add to a steeping bag, rehydrate in the warm must, allow flavor to infuse, rack, and skip the final blending of the rehydrated chiles. Does this make sense in terms of using a similar technique for infusing chile flavor in mead?
Possibly a way to still make an infusion of decent flavor out of your base mead instead of water, and without heating all of your must and chance losing any of the honey character, would be to make your full batch of mead and let it go through primary fermentation. When it is ready to be racked into secondary, take a small portion, say 10-20% of the fermented mead and use that to make the infusion, yes it'll lose some of the honey flavor and aroma and yes the alcohol will evaporate off while heating it but you will be able to make quality infusion.
Then cool and add it to your secondary vessel, rack the remaining mead onto it so it all mixes and incorporates well.
This will help you maintain the integrity of the honey in your mead and give you the cleanest chile flavor since none of that will be lost during primary fermentation. You'll get the best of both and end up with a nice capsicumel (fancy name for mead flavored with chile peppers)
The only other thing I might suggest is possibly adding only a portion of the infusion at a time, I know that contradicts what I said before about adding it to secondary then racking your mead onto it, but if you add it in increments you can taste inbetween and balance the sweet with the heat better, keep in mind the chile flavor will intensify slightly during aging so if you added it until it is right at the edge of perfect, like a splash away, in a few months it should hit the marks exactly where you want it.