Tea does what?

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taishojojo

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Ive seen people using teabags or loose tea....
What affect does that have? If I steep tea too long it takes a chalky texture to it.
So I cant imagine what days/weeks/monthes would do to a mead.
 
I add black tea for the tannins. I've heard some people say a mead won't develop it's full potential taste without tannins. Others like just straight unadulterated honey.
 
I guess my next question is what do tannins do?
Some articles I read, make em sound like a good thing... some sound bad.
 
I have added Chinese green tea leaves to both of my first primary ferments and I can say that so far: tea = happy yeast.

I mainly used it because I did not use a pre made nutrient complex, just fruit and tea (and honey of course) to give the yeasties what they need.
 
Tannin is a bittering agent. It's to red wine what hops are to beer. Hmm, I might get flamed for that... The bitter flavor helps balance the flavor of the alcohol. Tannin generally starts very sharply bitter. Over time, and in the presence of alcohol, it changes to a more mellow pleasant bitter flavor. The caffeine in the tea also helps the yeast out. Since mead tends to ferment slowly, that's a nice side effect.

Powdered tannin is more controllable. Coffee has more caffeine, and nitrogen. Coffee has a flavor that is generally considered undesirable in mead though. Powdered caffeine is harder to find, and slightly dangerous to handle. Tea is cheap, readily available, and usually comes in a handy bag for extraction.

Everyone brews a bit differently. There is nothing wrong with adding tannin powder, tea, or no bittering agent, to mead.
 
What about the caffeine pills? Grind a couple up, toss them in the carboy, and get your yeasty minions wired...:)
 
What about the caffeine pills? Grind a couple up, toss them in the carboy, and get your yeasty minions wired...:)

You could do that, but you really need to crush them rather then grind. That way the contents powder instead of breaking into clumps. Then either sift out the pill coating from the powder, or fish it out of the brew. The coatings don't usually dissolve, and they usually float instead of sinking.
 
Tannin is a bittering agent. It's to red wine what hops are to beer. Hmm, I might get flamed for that... The bitter flavor helps balance the flavor of the alcohol. Tannin generally starts very sharply bitter. Over time, and in the presence of alcohol, it changes to a more mellow pleasant bitter flavor. The caffeine in the tea also helps the yeast out. Since mead tends to ferment slowly, that's a nice side effect.

Powdered tannin is more controllable. Coffee has more caffeine, and nitrogen. Coffee has a flavor that is generally considered undesirable in mead though. Powdered caffeine is harder to find, and slightly dangerous to handle. Tea is cheap, readily available, and usually comes in a handy bag for extraction.

Everyone brews a bit differently. There is nothing wrong with adding tannin powder, tea, or no bittering agent, to mead.
Thank-you for the responses... bear with me here.
I'm only working my second batch.
My first batch of mead I used an acid blend and wlp720 (sweet mead yeast alcohol tolerance ~15%)
I took a sip when I racked it (about 5weeks in the primary). There wasn't any alcohol hotness. Now... I know, like spices, different flavours work differently and do different things when combined.
Im not a afan of bitter. (why I dont drink beer and use fresh roast coffee).
How does the tannin/bitter balance out alcohol/hotness?
I know thats a tough question to answer.

My current batch uses Red Star Cotes du Blanc(tolerance <14%)... Since I'm using low alcohol tolerant yeast (to get a sweeter beverage) do I even need to worry about using tannins?
 
Thank-you for the responses... bear with me here.
I'm only working my second batch.
My first batch of mead I used an acid blend and wlp720 (sweet mead yeast alcohol tolerance ~15%)
I took a sip when I racked it (about 5weeks in the primary). There wasn't any alcohol hotness. Now... I know, like spices, different flavours work differently and do different things when combined.
Im not a afan of bitter. (why I dont drink beer and use fresh roast coffee).
How does the tannin/bitter balance out alcohol/hotness?
I know thats a tough question to answer.

My current batch uses Red Star Cotes du Blanc(tolerance <14%)... Since I'm using low alcohol tolerant yeast (to get a sweeter beverage) do I even need to worry about using tannins?
Basically, the same chemical receptors that detect bitterness in your mouth also detect alcohol. Bittering agents mask the flavor of the alcohol by stimulating the receptors that would pick it up in a different way. Once those receptors are busy with the bittering agent, they can't also register the alcohol. Of course, some of them will still be stimulated by the alcohol. The apparent alcohol level will be greatly reduced though.

If you prefer the flavor of alcohol to bitter flavor compounds, then don't worry about it. It is literally a matter of taste. :)

Here's an interesting, but only loosely related, article on taste buds and alcohol consumption.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-326149/Alcohol-consumption-taste-buds.html
 
If you like sweet, you might even try an ale yeast. I did a very sweet mead last year using an ale yeast.
 
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