Have you ever made TeJ (Ethiopian Mead)?

[gunit00]

Hi folks,

I love Tej. For those who do not know what Tej is, it's an Ethiopian Mead made with gesho.

I am looking to learn from your experiences making Tej. Your recipes, processes, yeast types, gesho sticks or leaves, gesho amounts, and gesho soaking times would be super helpful. I know loveofrose has done it. But are there any other tej makers out there?

Have you made good tasting Tej? Please share how ya did it!

 

[JJack887]

There was a pretty popular thread on t'ej a couple months ago. I definitely want to make some.

 

[gunit00]

Unfortunately, like most things related to tej online, it is partial/half baked info. This, http://www.pitt.edu/~kloman/tej.html, is great source for Tej history.

I am looking for someone who has made some good Tej and is willing to share their protocol.

 

[bernardsmith]

I routinely make t'ej and have some bottled and a batch I just started last week. I treat t'ej like any other mead and use 71B to ferment the batch. Typically, I simply add the gesho (the inchet stems) to a batch of honey into which I have added water to give me a gravity of about 1.090 - I use a blender to mix the honey and water and to aerate the must. I add nutrient and energizer and typically ferment this in a bucket - loosely covered with a cloth at a low temperature (low 60s F). I have seen some recipes that suggest that after a week or so the gesho along with a few cups of the t'ej is boiled and then returned to the fermenter. This is not something I have done. I may be wrong but it seems to me that that sounds as if the t'ej maker thinks of the t'ej as if it were a beer and is treating the gesho as if it were a hop - but see below for a variation on this.

For my current batch I have made two changes - a) I am aiming for a t'ej with a lower ABV - about 6 or 7 % rather than 11-12% and b) because of the smaller amount of honey I decided to increase the amount of flavor from the gesho. I did this by boiling the gesho (about 4 oz for the gallon I make) in about 1 qt of water and then turning off the heat and allowing the inchet to steep for about 20 minutes. I added the warm tea to the 3 qts of water and the honey.

For the record , I opened a bottle of t'ej over the weekend (from a batch I had made in 2014) and biased though I may be, I found it quite delightful. What surprised me is that although I had bottled this to be a little (very little) petillant, it was more like a sparkling wine when I cracked open the bottle.

One more point, I believe that t'ej makers often use the sediment and lees from one batch to inoculate the next batch. I have tried that and my preference is for the cleaner taste that the 71B imparts. I suspect that the gesho is covered with lactic type bacteria that add to the complexity of the ferment and that complexity may add off-notes when combined with 71B and is used unwashed as the starter.
Now, as to whether my t'ej is "good" or not I offer this as my bona fides -
1. I have shared bottles of my t'ej (and t'alle - an Ethiopian beer that uses wild yeast and baked loaves to initiate the enzymatic action) with a colleague of mine from Ethiopia and he and his brother-in-law both agree that it reminded them of the t'ej they grew up with... and
2. I have shared some bottles with Harry Kloman (he of U of Pitts fame) and while he seemed to enjoy my version I think he thought it was more alcoholic than he was used to.
I have also tasted some t'ej made commercially here in the USA and I prefer mine... but I have also tasted some t'ej made locally by an Ethiopian t'ej maker and I want to say that his was a shade better than mine.

 

[gunit00]

I routinely make t'ej and have some bottled and a batch I just started last week. I treat t'ej like any other mead and use 71B to ferment the batch. Typically, I simply add the gesho (the inchet stems) to a batch of honey into which I have added water to give me a gravity of about 1.090 - I use a blender to mix the honey and water and to aerate the must. I add nutrient and energizer and typically ferment this in a bucket - loosely covered with a cloth at a low temperature (low 60s F). I have seen some recipes that suggest that after a week or so the gesho along with a few cups of the t'ej is boiled and then returned to the fermenter. This is not something I have done. I may be wrong but it seems to me that that sounds as if the t'ej maker thinks of the t'ej as if it were a beer and is treating the gesho as if it were a hop - but see below for a variation on this.
.............

Thanks for that incredible post. May the tej God's thank you!

I have got few questions:

How long do you leave your gesho in the must?
How long is your typical tej fermentation?
When do you rack into secondary?
When do you normally bottle your tej?
Do you use an sulfites?
Just to confirm, you don't use a lid or an air lock. Right?
Do you ferment your tej until it's dry?
What kind of honey do you prefer to use?

Keep us posted on how your new batch goes!

 

[bmwr75]

I've made Tej BOMM once. It turned out pretty woody tasting.

 

[JJack887]

Finally some straight answers. Thank you.

 

[loveofrose]

I keep trying to perfect it. Here is the latest attempt:
http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25450

 

[Frognostic]

I'd like to try making it, they were selling Ethiopian honey cheap on Amazon, but I have a hard time finding gesho.

 

[bernardsmith]

I tend to use either local honey from my farmer's market ( a blend of wildflower and clover) or supermarket honey - clover or wildflower although I have made a batch with white sage honey and am planning on making a batch with palmetto. I leave the gesho in the primary until the gravity drops to about 1.000 and then I rack to a secondary where I exclude all access to oxygen. I bottle after the t'ej is clear. Could be two months but could be sooner or later. I don't add any stabilizer as I allow the t'ej to ferment dry

There is never any need to use any airlock or lid in a primary - You can, of course, but sealing your primary means that you are less likely to add nutrients and to agitate the mead to aerate it and to remove carbon dioxide. Harry Kloman's protocol is to seal the t'ej with a lid but that means that you may need to constantly "burp" the container (half the weight of the honey will be converted to CO2. That is a great deal of gas... But treat t'ej like you treat any other mead or metheglin (a mead with added spices or herbs)

Oh... and I get gesho - inchet, kitel and duket (the ground leaves) from Brundo via Amazon

 

[gunit00]

I tend to use either local honey from my farmer's market ( a blend of wildflower and clover) or supermarket honey - clover or wildflower although I have made a batch with white sage honey and am planning on making a batch with palmetto.

There is never any need to use any airlock or lid in a primary - You can, of course, but sealing your primary means that you are less likely to add nutrients and to agitate the mead to aerate it and to remove carbon dioxide. Harry Kloman's protocol is to seal the t'ej with a lid but that means that you may need to constantly "burp" the container (half the weight of the honey will be converted to CO2. That is a great deal of gas... But treat t'ej like you treat any other mead or metheglin (a mead with added spices or herbs)

Oh... and I get gesho - inchet, kitel and duket (the ground leaves) from Brundo via Amazon

Really awesome details. Is it a general rule of thumb to aerate until the SG is 1.00?

Brundo just removed bulk gesho inchet from there website. . The only sell expensive small packets.

I am interested to see how boiling the gesho will change the flavor.

I keep trying to perfect it. Here is the latest attempt:
http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25450

0.5 oz of gesho, for a gallon batch, is tiny! Is the gesho flavor muted compared to a normal tej?

 

[loveofrose]

Actually, I've found that the more gesho I add, the longer it takes to mellow out into something I really enjoy. I keep dialing it back, but it doesn't affect the flavor so much as it makes it taste better sooner. I think it's analogous to over oaking. Keep in mind the original reason to use so much gesho was because it was the wild yeast source. Pitching yeast eliminates that need. Boiling doesn't really change the flavor at all.

 

[gunit00]

Actually, I've found that the more gesho I add, the longer it takes to mellow out into something I really enjoy. I keep dialing it back, but it doesn't affect the flavor so much as it makes it taste better sooner. I think it's analogous to over oaking. Keep in mind the original reason to use so much gesho was because it was the wild yeast source. Pitching yeast eliminates that need. Boiling doesn't really change the flavor at all.

Just so that I can have an idea of what you considered enjoyable, is there a commercial tej that you like?

How long do you leave the gesho in the must?

Also, I think one of the major thing boiling gesho does is sterilize.

 

[loveofrose]

Never had a commercial T'ej so can't help you there. My T'ej has a nice gesho flavor that enhances the sweetness of the honey. Some bitterness is present, but balanced by the sweetness level. Very smooth and easy to drink. Best out of a horn.

Generally, I leave the gesho in until I bottle. 1-3 months depending on my laziness. In truth, all the gesho flavor has seeped out by a month.

Boiling certainly does sterilize, but I've found pitching 100 billion Wyeast 1388 yeast cells obliterates anything wild. After a year of aging, I can detect no souring at all.

 

[bernardsmith]

I tend to aerate until the wine or mead (in this case the t'ej) is down to about 1.010 - 1.005. In other words, given the starting gravities I aim for and given the yeasts I prefer to use, and the temperatures I ferment at, this is during the first 3 or 4 days of fermentation. After that I am less concerned about any need to agitate the liquor...but if for practical reasons I have to rack earlier than at 1.005 I sometimes will pour the wine, rather than rack it, into the secondary - this both "degases" and aerates. But I will only rack if the wine is at 1.005 or lower when I transfer the liquor to a secondary..

 

[gunit00]

Never had a commercial T'ej so can't help you there. My T'ej has a nice gesho flavor that enhances the sweetness of the honey. Some bitterness is present, but balanced by the sweetness level. Very smooth and easy to drink. Best out of a horn.

Generally, I leave the gesho in until I bottle. 1-3 months depending on my laziness. In truth, all the gesho flavor has seeped out by a month.

Boiling certainly does sterilize, but I've found pitching 100 billion Wyeast 1388 yeast cells obliterates anything wild. After a year of aging, I can detect no souring at all.

You mean best out of a berele!

I tend to aerate until the wine or mead (in this case the t'ej) is down to about 1.010 - 1.005. In other words, given the starting gravities I aim for and given the yeasts I prefer to use, and the temperatures I ferment at, this is during the first 3 or 4 days of fermentation. After that I am less concerned about any need to agitate the liquor...but if for practical reasons I have to rack earlier than at 1.005 I sometimes will pour the wine, rather than rack it, into the secondary - this both "degases" and aerates. But I will only rack if the wine is at 1.005 or lower when I transfer the liquor to a secondary..

At 1.005 , your tej is quite dry. Do you leave it there or back sweeten?

 

[bernardsmith]

I prefer my wines and meads dry rather than sweet. But 1.005 is actually quite sweet unless the pH is very low (1.005 is about 2 oz of unfermented sugar in every gallon... and I don't drink soda and my coffee is black no sugar

 

[loveofrose]

I find a berele somewhat cumbersome, but it can't be beat for keeping flies out of your t'ej.

I mostly like this mead out of my horn because it is sealed with beeswax. Adds a little extra primitive flavor that I enjoy!

 

[gunit00]

I prefer my wines and meads dry rather than sweet. But 1.005 is actually quite sweet unless the pH is very low (1.005 is about 2 oz of unfermented sugar in every gallon... and I don't drink soda and my coffee is black no sugar

I see. I find that tannins from the gesho tend to dominate a dry tej. How do manage your pH to optimal levels? I drink my coffee black too, but I am finding that I like my mead on the sweeter side. Cheers to black coffee!

 

[bernardsmith]

Good question. I use 71B and ferment at low temperatures. I also use tend to use only the inchet (the stems) and rarely use the leaves (kitel). Also in the past I have not applied any heat to the stems although in my current batch (less than 2 weeks ) I did boil the inchet for 20 minutes to see if that would draw out more flavor..

 

[gunit00]

Good question. I use 71B and ferment at low temperatures. I also use tend to use only the inchet (the stems) and rarely use the leaves (kitel). Also in the past I have not applied any heat to the stems although in my current batch (less than 2 weeks ) I did boil the inchet for 20 minutes to see if that would draw out more flavor..

How much gesho do you use in a given batch?

 

[gunit00]

Actually, I've found that the more gesho I add, the longer it takes to mellow out into something I really enjoy. I keep dialing it back, but it doesn't affect the flavor so much as it makes it taste better sooner. I think it's analogous to over oaking. Keep in mind the original reason to use so much gesho was because it was the wild yeast source. Pitching yeast eliminates that need. Boiling doesn't really change the flavor at all.

The original reason to use gesho is two fold, for bittering and for wild yeast present on the sticks. Can you share with me where you found that the amount of gesho used was solely for yeast sourcing? I would be super interested to read up on it, if it is indeed true.

I want to know how you got down to 0.5oz of gesho. What was the largest amount of gesho you used in a batch(please share the size of the batch)? This would be helpful for me so I can understand what you consider to be palatable.

Also, how is your current tej BOMM going?

 

[loveofrose]

For reference, section 3 paragraph 5.
http://www.pitt.edu/~kloman/tej.html
It's a bit hazy of course, but the gist is that mankind has always looked for higher ABV and gesho did that.

The largest amount of gesho has been 8 oz per gallon. It took a long time to age out, but it eventually did. I've been progressively using less and less to maximize resources (gesho can be tough to find) and speed to drinkability.

The current T'ej BOMM is 12 days old and in my horn right now. It is the best batch out of the fermenter so far!

 

[bernardsmith]

How much gesho do you use in a given batch?

I use 4 oz per gallon and make gallon batches, although I sometimes use an additional 4 oz of the kitel with the inchet (the leaves with the stems) and add the kitel in a hop bag so that they are easy (more or less) to remove - although no question, the kitel takes much longer to clear bright .

As to the role in bittering (your post to LoveofRose ) I do not have evidence (no microscope) but I suspect that the bittering is likely due to lactic and other bacilli in the wood and leaves that sours the honey and not to acids in the way that European hops bitter beer. But anyone with a good microscope should be able to identify whether the gesho is a source of yeast or bacteria or both... But I could be very, very wrong...

 

[loveofrose]

I took that "solely for yeast" question differently. I thought he meant gesho for flavor versus fermentation. If he really meant pure yeast versus yeast + bacteria, it most certainly is the latter. You don't need a scope for that!