Chili Pepper and Cocoa Mead?

[sodypop]

Has anybody ever tried this or heard of anybody trying it? it just popped into my head as a possible combination.

Any ideas on how I should go about it? What sort of honey should I use?

I'm a newbie. Have my first pyment in secondary Now I'm on a roll. Can't seem to stop.

 

[usfmikeb]

I don't think you'll ever get the cocoa to settle out, I'd recommend using cocoa nibs. I've got a chocolate mead aging right now that used nibs, it's a year old, so I haven't tasted it yet.

As far as honey quality, I typically use less expensive honey for anything that I'm going to use stronger flavoring on, reserving the really good honey for traditional meads.

 

[kc_in_wv]

There is an organic food store I go to. They have a chili pepper and chocolate candy bar that is pretty good.

 

[usfmikeb]

Chiles and chocolates isn't new, you can find it in all kinds of things: hot chocolate, candy bars, beer, etc. Had a bottle of Clown Shoes Mexican Sombrero yesterday, a mexican style stout with chocolate and peppers in it. Good stuff.

 

[sodypop]

I'll have to look for the nibs. Thanks. I didn't even know they existed.

Yeah, I know it's not a new combo in foods, etc. I've put cocoa powder in a pot of chili before, and it was really good. But I searched for mead recipes containing cocoa and chilis and couldn't find any. I suppose it would be a Cocoa or Chocolate Capsicumel?

 

[biochemedic]

I've thought of doing this before, essentially "meadifying" one of my beer recipes (a chocolate cinnamon chipotle stout). Usfbmike is correct...it does take a LONG time for cocoa to settle out (and ultimately, it helps to do some finings) but it can be done, and I've made a straight cocoa mead before with powder successfully. That being said, it takes quite a long time for cocoa flavor to incorporate properly in a mead, and it also requires a little residual sweetness to come out right (otherwise it's just an odd sort of bitterness), so you might need to backsweeten to taste (I left mine at mid-semi sweet, ~ 1.014 after backsweetening).
I'm working on a cocoa bochet right now, and after I see how that one turns out, I may start another cocoa mead with cinnamon and chipotles, +/- caramelized honey vs plain. One of these days I'll try the nibs for comparison...