Using coffee in mead

[Niklaas1212]

Hey so I started 2 batches of mead and am going to add the ingredients into the secondary fermentation and planned on possibly doing a coffee one. I was wondering if anyone has tried this before? I was thinking I would have to cold brew some then add it with the vanilla and cocoa. How much coffee would be good and if I do go with it, how much vanilla and cocoa to balance it do you guys think

 

[bernardsmith]

Never made a mead with coffee but have made a coffee wine. I would suggest that you use the best coffee you can find and enjoy and make the coffee to the same strength as you would enjoy if it wasn't to be a mead /wine. You need to be careful not to extract too much bitterness from the coffee... (my opinion) .
My coffee wine took about two years of aging to have the sharp edges smoothed out and I don''t ferment at high temps and I don't try to obtain a higher ABV than about 12%.

 

[Niklaas1212]

Never made a mead with coffee but have made a coffee wine. I would suggest that you use the best coffee you can find and enjoy and make the coffee to the same strength as you would enjoy if it wasn't to be a mead /wine. You need to be careful not to extract too much bitterness from the coffee... (my opinion) .
My coffee wine took about two years of aging to have the sharp edges smoothed out and I don''t ferment at high temps and I don't try to obtain a higher ABV than about 12%.

Hmm I'll keep that in mind. I cold brew every once in a while and have made some that aren't super bitter but still have a nice coffee flavor so I might stick with the medium roast bean I have at the house. I live coffee porters and stouts and like brewing mead so I started thinking about it

 

[bernardsmith]

I think (but have never tested this with a pH meter) that coffee is quite acidic. Honey contains no buffers so during fermentation, the pH of honey can drop to levels that can stall the fermentation. I don't know what the impact of coffee will have on the fermentation. You may want to monitor the pH if you can or perhaps add some K -carbonate prophylactically, if you cannot - You can always add more acidity after the active fermentation has ceased

 

[Frognostic]

I have not made a pure coffee mead but I did make a coffee and vanilla wine with honey in it.

Friends took a whiff and suggested pour it down the sink but I drank it and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Don't drink as a nightcap, though.

 

[Niklaas1212]

Yeah I think I'm going to cold brew some and add the vanilla beans and possibly cocoa nibs if you think it's a good Idea to help the flavor.

 

[loveofrose]

One of the major meaderies makes a coffee mead by throwing the whole beans in. It's apparently a best seller. Cold brew on mead-roids.

Can't remember if it was a GotMead podcast or Meadmakr podcast.

 

[Vex3521]

I'd totally add cocoa nibs to this one, not sure on the vanilla but either way excited to hear how this comes out

 

[fossilcat]

I was thinking of treating the addition of coffee to a mead like it was a spice. Smack 4 or 5 beens with a hammer and add to secondary, remove when it tastes good. Like nutmeg.

I also thought making a tincture with vodka might be the way to go.

I'm finding more and more reasons to split my gallon meads into half gallons....

 

[Niklaas1212]

One of the major meaderies makes a coffee mead by throwing the whole beans in. It's apparently a best seller. Cold brew on mead-roids.

Can't remember if it was a GotMead podcast or Meadmakr podcast.

Awesome I'll see if I can find it

 

[Niklaas1212]

I'd totally add cocoa nibs to this one, not sure on the vanilla but either way excited to hear how this comes out

Yeah I was thinking of the vanilla to maybe mellow it out a little

 

[Niklaas1212]

I was thinking of treating the addition of coffee to a mead like it was a spice. Smack 4 or 5 beens with a hammer and add to secondary, remove when it tastes good. Like nutmeg.

I also thought making a tincture with vodka might be the way to go.

I'm finding more and more reasons to split my gallon meads into half gallons....

Hmm that doesn't sound as bad I know with the cold brew it isn't as acidic as a regular brew but crushing the beans and adding might be a good idea

 

[kempshark]

I have never made anything like it, but I had a coffee lactomel at a local beer tasting that was incredible. Great coffee flavor, smooth, creamy awesomeness. Would love to have the recipe and procedure for that one.

 

[Niklaas1212]

I have never made anything like it, but I had a coffee lactomel at a local beer tasting that was incredible. Great coffee flavor, smooth, creamy awesomeness. Would love to have the recipe and procedure for that one.

That does sound awesome!!

 

[Niklaas1212]

I will add pictures when I add ingredients to the secondary and also the amounts of ingredients I used in it, and the og

 

[Niklaas1212]

Gonna be adding the coffee, cocoa nibs and vanilla beans to this in a couple days just to keep it updated.

 

[195877]

Good luck with this! and, sorry to cannibalize with a wine post!
I just pitched a questionable D-47? (it was the only yeast I had) to a coffee wine I'm calling "Caramel Macchiato"

Used a quality medium roast "cold brewed" coffee (like you said cold brewed is much smoother and without bitterness and less acid flavor). Initially the PH was about 4.1 so I added 1 tsp+- of acid blend to bring the acid up to 3.6 PH.
I also added dark chocolate 100% cacao powder with the coffee in the cold brew.
Added 1 vanilla bean to the 1Gal must.

The Caramel in the Macchiato is from a "wet caramel sauce" (non-dairy) that I made.
The caramel really adds something awesome here!!!

It will more than likely ferment dry with d47 then I will back sweeten to a sweet------> dessert wine, and if the current flavor is any indication of the finish...yum!

If it turns out... cool!
If not, it was a very minimal investment experiment.

Og 1.095


Primary-
1gal Caramel Macchiato
1gal Concord grape juice wine
1gal White grape juice wine

Secondary-
1 gal Traditional Mead
1gal Cherry vanillaMel
1gal Blueberry Melomel

 

[195877]

The vanilla bean (and a medium toast French oak cube) are on 2 very thin fly fishing leader lines that I can retrieve at any time

 

[195877]

After more research I realized that tannins should be added here...not having any, I added 15 raisins cut in half!

 

[Niklaas1212]

Gotcha thanks for the input I'll let you know how it goes I an adding the ingredients tomorrow

 

[Niklaas1212]

Ok so I racked it over and added the coffee, vanilla beans and cocoa nibs. Here is a picture. I think I added a little more then other people have but what the heck I thought, might as well give it a try.

I used
3 vanilla beans
2 Oz of cocoa nibs and about 1.5 ounces of medium roast course ground Kenyan coffee beans.

View attachment 1456594118925.jpg

 

[195877]

Looking good!
Be prepared, you more than likely will get some funky looking foam associated with the coffee, cocoa and vanilla...no worries though.

 

[Niklaas1212]

Looking good!
Be prepared, you more than likely will get some funky looking foam associated with the coffee, cocoa and vanilla...no worries though.

Yeah haha I figured

 

[Niklaas1212]

Forgot to update sooner the mead is going very well actually, took a little taste before bottling and the coffee definitely stands out smell and flavor wise, the vanilla beans left a good strong flavor that i hope will mellow a bit with age. The cocoa nibs are kinda non existant due to the other flavors being so prominent at the moment

 

[DorianHyde92]

Maybe crush the beans like a brewery might malt barley for a beer and toss in the must?I'd imagine it sort of help when it comes time to rack,maybe back sweeten and toss some more in and let bubble again before bottling with a bean or two in the bottle?