Chai Tea Mead

[MX1]

So I am going to make this as one the next two 1 gallon batches, as soon as my current batches get racked over.

3 lb wildflower honey
3qt Loose Leaf Chai Tea
BOMM Yeast / SNA Protocol

Secondary
1-2 Vanilla beans

This is the description of the Chai I will be using:

An ode to traditional masala (spice) chai, All Chai’d Up is infused with both Eastern and Western flavors with warm earthy balanced aromas of ginger, clove, cinnamon, sweet notes of cardamom, and fennel.

Kinda excited

 

[DBhomebrew]

A chai batch is on my list.

I've done two short meads a là Bray's Fidnemed. A Tension Tamer and a Mint. I wasn't a fan of the TT, too medicinal. The mint is nice after many months of age, but it's got an off-flavor I'm thinking is from too much nutrient. My friends don't notice it, but I do.

I'm now in the process of a few unflavored batches to see if I can clean up that off-flavor. If so, I'll give the herbal tea flavoring another shot.

That said, I recommend dialling in your traditional mead before layering on the flavors.

 

[MightyMosin]

That tea sounds great and hopefully will make a killer mead.

Since you are using a tea and you don't know what may be in your tea, you probably should steep it the day before you intend to brew and then use some K-Meta (campden tablet) to help stave off any critters that you don't want growing in your mead.

 

[bernardsmith]

That tea sounds great and hopefully will make a killer mead.

Since you are using a tea and you don't know what may be in your tea, you probably should steep it the day before you intend to brew and then use some K-Meta (campden tablet) to help stave off any critters that you don't want growing in your mead.

except if you are going to brew tea then adding water at very close to 212 F (boiling point) that will effectively sterilize any bacteria (or yeast or mold) dormant in the tea. Assuming that when you pitch the yeast they will begin fermenting relatively soon after pitching ( pitching an active culture is never a bad idea - no lag time involved) no microbes that floated in after the tea cooled will have a chance to gain a toe hold... Yeast are great at creating an environment that they prefer and which all competing microbes dis-prefer...

 

[MightyMosin]

except if you are going to brew tea then adding water at very close to 212 F (boiling point) that will effectively sterilize any bacteria (or yeast or mold) dormant in the tea. Assuming that when you pitch the yeast they will begin fermenting relatively soon after pitching ( pitching an active culture is never a bad idea - no lag time involved) no microbes that floated in after the tea cooled will have a chance to gain a toe hold... Yeast are great at creating an environment that they prefer and which all competing microbes dis-prefer...

True. I usually do a lot of cold steep and should have added that qualifier.