Recent content by Driftless

So I brew with 2 tenants in mind: 1) Mead is honey, honey is a natural growth inhibitor 2) People were doing this sh*t thousands of years before star-san So far so good - never had a problem. Till now. I just racked a traditional mead (honey, water, muntons yeast ('tis what I had)) and...

Okay - I am curious about the coffee concept. Since I am still not convinced that french-roast and mead belong together... But if cold steeping is all the rage for brewing purposes, why not just dump some ground un-brewed coffee in your primary, or secondary, and let it do its thing for a...

Hmmm... creative - but risky... And I see two holes in the theory: 1) Leftover coffee??? Who are we kidding? and 2) As you pointed out - you start seriously altering your ratios... lots more water. And the used grounds would be just that - used. I just sampled my ginger as I racked it to...

China. No - seriously, China. Although it does have its setbacks when it comes to brewing, there are also a lot of interesting possibilities... Fruits I had never heard of (and whose English names I haven't learned yet...), jungle honey, though it is a bit hard to find DAP, or other...

Nope- actually I'm in Yunnan... A little farther away from any ports, but a lot closer to coffee central. There is a yunnan coffee brand here, but they haven't quite figured out how to do a dark roast...

EUREEEEEKA! It just hit me: Coffee Mead! Right - I know that's what we have been talking about - but screw brewing... hell screw roasting, I'm going straight for the coffee cherries! - From Coffee for Connoisseurs High sugar content... great flavor... COFFEE!!! BigStone - I've got...

Ahhh. But I like that harsh bitterness ;) . At 6am it really cuts through the fog. Though maybe not a good idea in my mead.

Have you tried this before with success? Sounds great.

Seriously though - whats all the fuss about cold steeping? Why not brew up a pot of good ole' Mr. Coffee (or Kāfēi Xiānsheng if you prefer) and dump it in the must?

Damn... anyone know a good way to test the moisture content? Not that it matters tooo much, but after I've had a few, I either don't give a sh*t or I turn into a formula geek and try to hash it all out...

ChshreCat is correct: the variety would be where its grown (Fujian Coffee) I think in Fujian, you would have trouble with arabica (too far north?) but robusta might work... Both are thriving here, and some are trying to encourage farmers to shade-grow it under the sprawling rubber...

True... However, the point I think I am making (if there is a point here) is the inconsistency in reporting... Which probably is just "one of those things." For example, in reporting a 3 Gallon recipe many say: 3 Gallons water 10 lbs honey When, the recipe should be 2.15 gallons...

BS777: Where are you finding coffee in China? Four things Chinese seem to neglect: Beer Coffee Bread Cheese Which also happens to be four of my favorites... Been able to make the first three myself (coffee grows here), but still coming up short on the cheese...

Details man... Details! I am curious about this... How much coffee? How much water? How long did you cold-brew? (And why not just regular brew?) Cheers!

This does bring up a point I've been muddling around---an issue with recipes: I've pieced together the idea that the ratio of honey to water can vary between 1lbs per "gallon" to 5lbs per "gallon" Of course, honey (having a mass of its own) takes up space too... So I think its best to...