Vodka infused vs. actual spice

[Anderson_NJ]

I have 5 gallons fermenting in a primary. Only seven days in so far. I'm planning to adds some spice in the secondary. Specifically, I want to try cinnamon sticks and villa beans. I was thinking of trying vodka infused cinnamon and villa instead of actually adding directly to the secondary. Does anyone know if there is a benefit to doing it this way, like shorter aging time? I'm relatively new to making mead, so any advise would be appreciated.

 

[On-target]

I have had good results with adding the spices in secondary,whole cinnamon sticks and vanilla beans sliced lengthwise and tied with string for easier removal. I never really liked the idea of adding vodka to my mead.
Good luck.

 

[Anderson_NJ]

Great. How many cinnamon sticks and vanilla beans would you recommend for something just enough for a light to medium favoring. I don't want it to overpower the honey. I'm doing a slightly dry to medium mead. Also, how long do you recommend the cinnamon and vanilla stay in the secondary? Thanks.

 

[feinbera]

I tried this in a beer rather than a mead, so, your mileage may vary, but I found that, for the same amount of spice per gallon (of finished beer... I wasn't making gallons of spiced Smirnoff) and the same infusion time, I got way more flavor out of the vodka infusion than I did just plunking the spices into secondary. The infusions also have the benefit of allowing you to blend to taste at bottling time, while you're kinda stuck with whatever you got if you add the spices directly. Either way, you'll probably get most of what you're going to get out of the spices in a week or so.