Dry Hopping with Yerba Maté, Anyone?

[Aróchito]

Hi, I was researching which hops are the best to dryhop my cider with (which I'm still trying to figure out), but then I had the idea of dry "hopping" the batch with Yerba Mate tea, either along with or instead of the hops. It's got a ton of caffeine so it has the potential to pack quite a nice punch. Does anyone have any experience with this? I can't find anything regarding maté and cider brewing. Not surprising when I think of the potentially awful taste (lol).
Thanks!

 

[Blacksmith1]

I tried that tea once, as a tea, 25 or so years ago, once..... If you like it, try it. I will never add it to anything... ever...

 

[Miraculix]

I Like the tea, but I wouldn't add it to a beer without making sure it doesn't lead to an infection, which adding unboiled leaves usually does.

 

[ten80]

I'd suggest making a concentrated tea, then dosing small amounts in a glass of your finished cider till you figure out the ratios. That way you can "sanitize" the yerba mate. Or just "dry tea" with a low-ish dose (1 oz per 5 gal) and hope it doesn't cause an infection; I think the odds are fairly low given the acidity and alcohol in a finished cider. rack off the tea when the optimal flavor is reached, which I suspect will happen fairly quickly.

 

[Miraculix]

I forgot that we are talking about cider, I thought about beer with residual sugars. With cider I would give it a try as there is (if dry), no sugar left for the bugs on the leaves.

 

[Chalkyt]

Can't help with tea, but I recently tried hops in a small batch. I simply put hops in some muslin and tied it up like a teabag then suspended it in the secondary carboy for a few days before bottling.

The reason for this post is to suggest that if you take this approach, you need to taste, taste, taste, as the cider seemed to take on the hop flavour quite quickly. A few days was enough. So I suspect that the same might happen with any form of tea.

I understand that the more "traditional" approach with black tea is to make up a strong brew with boiling water then add it to the cider before bottling. This approach might overcome the concerns with infection from Yerba Mate. We await your results with great interest.

FYI I tried Cascade hops in some cider that was O.K. but "needed something", and ended up with a very pleasant citrus/hops flavour after only four days steeping.

 

[CKuhns]

Citra hops work well, 1.5 to 2oz dry hop leaf in a small mesh bag for 5 days works well for me in 5 gallons. As mentioned above taste it every day. It quickly can get too much and in about 7 or 8 days they get a "grassy" like flavor to them.

No expierience with the tea you mentioned. Have done a number of tea additions and just never really happy with them. If looking for tannens or to round the flavor out a bit then consider toasted oak or vanilla.

 

[TwistedGray]

I've made a number of tea-based ciders. I just add the leaves to secondary for a few days and then rack off...no infection, no issues. I've probably done this on a half dozen batches or so.

 

[wasully]

I've made a number of tea-based ciders. I just add the leaves to secondary for a few days and then rack off...no infection, no issues. I've probably done this on a half dozen batches or so.

I wish there was an easy way to figure out how much of the tea was extracted.

 

[TwistedGray]

I wish there was an easy way to figure out how much of the tea was extracted.

You mean the level of caffeine?

 

[wasully]

You mean the level of caffeine?

And tannin, too. Not that yerba is particularly tannic. But just in general/ Hops, tea, whatever.

 

[TwistedGray]

How do you/they figure it out in water?
@wasully

 

[Krasdale]

I have made yerba mate mead. It is an incredible yeast nutrient. In fact it is so nutritious that mate will get quite stale if left out, with bacteria and mold activity, plus it seems to develop some saponins. So I leave it for the hot side.