Best flavor with which to compliment clove

[Complete_Amateur]

I am set on making a clove-spiced something mead, but can't decide what. I have vanilla, blueberries, raspberries, peach, banana, and any number of too many others that I would like to try.

What great combinations with clove as a dominant or at least prominent flavor have you discovered (Honey varietals included)?

 

[BigFloyd]

Peach goes good with clove.

 

[blizzard]

Peach sounds good. So does vanilla. Do peach-vanilla and skip the clove

 

[Complete_Amateur]

Peach sounds good. So does vanilla. Do peach-vanilla and skip the clove

Peach and vanilla do both sound quite good. I am too set on clove to skip it. Maybe I will forget about it after I taste it, but I like it too much to skip it without first having included it in at least one mead.

I also can't get the idea of banana clove out of my head, so I may have to try that as well.

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Oranges, Cloves are sweeter so maybe a tiny touch of cinnamon and some orange to balance it out.

 

[Jericurl]

Orange and clove is probably a better pairing than peach/clove.

Peaches are wonderful but could very easily be drowned out by the clove.
If you are dead set on it, I would probably use about twice as many peaches as you think you will need, and less than half of the clove you think you will need.
Taste daily and the second you feel it has enough clove taste, take the clove out. Keep in mind that clove is one spice that does NOT fade as it ages.
eta: A small amount of vanilla could smooth out the edges and better marry the two together as well. Peach cobbler mead sounds very good.

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Speaking of Cloves. They have a Clove wine recipe in "making wild wines and meads" and I'm interesting in trying it, but it's 1oz of cloves per gallon. It must be insane. I kind of want to try it, just from the audacity of using an ounce of cloves in a gallon of wine.

But yeah, Cloves are serious business when it comes to flavor and little bit (1-3 whole cloves per gallon) is all you need for a decent profile.

 

[Jericurl]

....that sounds....intense...

You could probably call it Cocaine. I'm betting it would numb your mouth!

 

[Complete_Amateur]

....that sounds....intense...

You could probably call it Cocaine. I'm betting it would numb your mouth!

How about "Clovacaine"? I was planning on a small number (which I could count on one hand) of cloves for a single gallon. Also, I can control the amount of clove flavor vs. peach/vanilla/blueberry/etc. by how much of each I mix.

Oranges clove is a classic, which I might lean on, but I would like to find something a little different. I am also making several one-gallon batches of individual flavors for mixing/aging, and I don't want to make a batch of orange.

I was hoping that the peach would add a subtle flavor, but mostly sweetness, and maybe the vanilla could provide that softness and an impression of sweetness.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Orange or apple work well with clove, so do raisins, dates & figs.

 

[biochemedic]

I've personally only done orange clove, and I use clove in my cider recipe...I have drastically dialed back the amount over the years. Cloves can get overwhelming pretty fast, and even at only 8 to 10 in a 6 gal batch they are still perceptible
I've been racking my brain to think of a combination that would go well with clove, and for some reason a pyment lightly spiced with clove sounds really good...

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Home Brew mobile app

 

[Complete_Amateur]

I've personally only done orange clove, and I use clove in my cider recipe...I have drastically dialed back the amount over the years. Cloves can get overwhelming pretty fast, and even at only 8 to 10 in a 6 gal batch they are still perceptible
I've been racking my brain to think of a combination that would go well with clove, and for some reason a pyment lightly spiced with clove sounds really good...

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Home Brew mobile app

That does sound pretty good. Maybe a white peach pyment? Have you noticed any differences in the flavor profile of cloves vs. the time spent in contact with the must/mead or when you add them?

I was also considering an extraction in a high-proof spirit, which may be more controlled.

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

That does sound pretty good. Maybe a white peach pyment? Have you noticed any differences in the flavor profile of cloves vs. the time spent in contact with the must/mead or when you add them?

I was also considering an extraction in a high-proof spirit, which may be more controlled.

That would allow you to add a bit at a time and stop when you reach your desired cloviness.

 

[biochemedic]

I suppose the contact time could be part of the equation...when I use cloves, I do it as a sort of mulling process...take a bit of the must or cider, and simmer it with the spice blend, then add all of it into the carboy, spices and all. So, when I use 8-10 cloves, I'm getting all of those 8-10 cloves...

I think a peach white clove blend sounds very nice...I have a few bottles of muscadine juice sitting waiting for me to make another pyment; perhaps when I do it, I'll do the cloves and add some peach puree in secondary... Lightly backsweetened, I think this could be very nice...

 

[Complete_Amateur]

I suppose the contact time could be part of the equation...when I use cloves, I do it as a sort of mulling process...take a bit of the must or cider, and simmer it with the spice blend, then add all of it into the carboy, spices and all. So, when I use 8-10 cloves, I'm getting all of those 8-10 cloves...

I think a peach white clove blend sounds very nice...I have a few bottles of muscadine juice sitting waiting for me to make another pyment; perhaps when I do it, I'll do the cloves and add some peach puree in secondary... Lightly backsweetened, I think this could be very nice...

That sounds great. I think this time around I am going to end up using peach and blueberry as my fruits and vanilla and clove as my spices. I'll be making a gallon of each, and then blending in different combinations to age. I have Maybe I will try a range of soaking and extraction methods to find the best way to get the clove and vanilla flavors.

Apricot sounds good too...

 

[fuelish]

My vote goes to....not using cloves...haha. I don't mind cloves if I'm baking certain things, but.....can't wrap my head around clove in an adult beverage with clove flavor....but I'd imagine, yeah, orange or peach might be right nice

 

[Complete_Amateur]

My vote goes to....not using cloves...haha. I don't mind cloves if I'm baking certain things, but.....can't wrap my head around clove in an adult beverage with clove flavor....but I'd imagine, yeah, orange or peach might be right nice

Everyone has his preferences, but what exactly is an adult flavor?

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Stones 12.12.12. is a literal clove bomb and I can drink the whole bomber just fine. Also they round out spiced meads quite nicely.

 

[fuelish]

Everyone has his preferences, but what exactly is an adult flavor?

...."adult beverage," as was posted ....adult flavor is something kinda like kid flavor, but well aged, I guess

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Ham and Pineapple go good with clove. Best to serve the mead on the side tho'.

 

[Complete_Amateur]

Ham and Pineapple go good with clove. Best to serve the mead on the side tho'.

That sounds like one hell of a weirdomel, but I'll stick with the mead on the side as you suggest. Pineapple sounds good, though I am not sure if it sounds good paired directly with clove.

 

[Complete_Amateur]

...."adult beverage," as was posted ....adult flavor is something kinda like kid flavor, but well aged, I guess

I'll leave those flavors out, and stick with clove, although clove would probably improve them both .