First fermented tea

[torilen]

I just made some tea to try to ferment.
4 cups of water, 4 bags of Victorian Earl Gray, 1 cup of sugar.

I'm only fermenting 3 cups of this. I figured, since I was going
to brew this nice and strong, might as well make some extra to
drink on the side.

Tastes great right now. Hopefully it will come out nice. The ABV
calculator I use estimates about 9% ABV if it goes all the way to
dry. That'd be a nice spring drink.

Just out of curiosity - for those who ferment tea...should I expect
this to have to age a while, or will it be good to drink only a short
time when it is finished fermenting?

 

[zipper8650]

What is your yeast source?

 

[theDREWery]

I would drink quickly, earl grey has bergamont, which supplies citrus oils. The oils will go rancid over time, possibly spoiling your culture.

 

[torilen]

zipper - I used red star pure cuvee - I guess I am basically making tea wine. I'm not trying to mess with kombucha and scoby's and all that. Don't mean to offend anyone really into that, just a lot of work for not a lot of alcohol. I know it's supposed to be good for health...not really worried about it for that, though.

drewery - I have actually found that out since making it, reading up on "tea wine". Thank you, though. Since it is such a small batch, it will be gone quickly. If I ever make a larger batch of it, I'll make sure not to bottle any - just stick it in the fridge to drink.

 

[torilen]

Well, that'll teach me to research more before making something. As I said, I found out about the bergemont causing tea to spoil AFTER starting this fermenting. It's only been a day, and I gave it a quick taste. Sure enough, it tastes as if it spoiled.

I'll give it one more day and see what happens. If it is, not TOO big of a deal, I suppose. A whole cup of sugar down the drain, but that's about it, I suppose (tea is cheap enough, as is the water). And the time gone...CURSE THE LOST TIME!

I have plenty of herbal teas and other stuff sitting around the house...maybe I'll give one of those a try.

 

[theDREWery]

I use lots of small batches for testing new things. I think I have about a dozen 1 gallon fermenters, and the last three years I think I've done about 20-25 test batches per year. No major heartache when something goes wrong, and if something goes right you have a starting recipe for tweaking.

And just a heads up, fermented rooibos tea was nasty!

 

[torilen]

drewery - thanks for the heads up. Thankfully, I don't think we
have any of that type of tea sitting around. Last time we got
some was five or six years ago, I think. Most of what we have
now is various types of herbal teas...I have some green teas,
and a few bags of various types of earl gray left.

Maybe I'll try one of the green teas with honey, or an orange
herbal tea or something.

 

[theDREWery]

Green tea and honey is called jun, and I've heard it's delicious. Same culture, but it may take awhile to adjust to the different food source. I think I may have to try making some of that soon.

 

[Fire Me Boy!]

Well, that'll teach me to research more before making something. As I said, I found out about the bergemont causing tea to spoil AFTER starting this fermenting. It's only been a day, and I gave it a quick taste. Sure enough, it tastes as if it spoiled.

I'll give it one more day and see what happens. If it is, not TOO big of a deal, I suppose. A whole cup of sugar down the drain, but that's about it, I suppose (tea is cheap enough, as is the water). And the time gone...CURSE THE LOST TIME!

I have plenty of herbal teas and other stuff sitting around the house...maybe I'll give one of those a try.

From what I've read, the oil in Earl Gray (and likely the herbal teas you have) are what makes it bad. It's supposedly bad for the SCOBY. Stick with straight tea - black, green, oolong, or white. Look at the ingredient list, and if it has anything other than tea, don't use it.

 

[torilen]

Actually, I just threw my country peach tea wine into the fridge for tonight's special drink. It turned out quite nice. It is an herbal tea, so it is just fruit pieces and skins and stuff, I think...I'd have to go back and look at the box again. I looked before I made it, and there was nothing bad in it.

I could use a bit more peach flavor, and maybe a little less sugar in it, but it is pretty good.

 

[Fire Me Boy!]

No personal experience, so YMMV, but from most of the resources, it is not that it can't ferment, just that the SCOBY won't have a long life due to the oils.

 

[torilen]

Not using a SCOBY. Just using regular old wine yeast. I'm making actual wine, not kombucha. But yes, that's what I've read as well. And take it from me...regular earl gray (and sub varieties) will go bad a couple of days in. And yes, it is because of the oils.

Much to my disappointment. I really love earl gray...and one of my favorites is Lady Gray, which has even more bergamot, which means more oils.

Oh well. I'll have to survive off herbals.

 

[Fire Me Boy!]

Not using a SCOBY. Just using regular old wine yeast. I'm making actual wine, not kombucha. But yes, that's what I've read as well. And take it from me...regular earl gray (and sub varieties) will go bad a couple of days in. And yes, it is because of the oils.

Much to my disappointment. I really love earl gray...and one of my favorites is Lady Gray, which has even more bergamot, which means more oils.

Oh well. I'll have to survive off herbals.

Ah! Sounds cool.

 

[buMbLeB]

Here's one I've done twice, straight to the fridge to cold crash and then drink - I like it well enough and it's dead simple:

2 peppermint tea bags, 1 tetley orange pekoe, a medium size chunk of ginger (let's say 3 inches long by 1.5 inch diameter?), 1 lemon, 4 cups sugar. I make it all up in a one gallon carboy.

Peel & dice ginger, boil in ~1gallon h20, add tea bags and simmer for 45 minutes or until reduced by half, top up water and bring back to boil, add zest of lemon and sugar, stir. Remove tea bags, cool in a sink of cold water (usually two times) at what should be an OG of around 1.080, and add the juice of the lemon. Add yeast energizer and nutrient (half tsp each) and about a quarter 50g pack of Lalvin EC-1118 champagne yeast. I think I pulled it at 1.014 FG, but maybe should have let it go a little drier, but not much. The mint and lemon seem to balance pretty nicely, and the ginger gives more of a kick than a flavour. I expect to enjoy this again in the hotter weather, if anyone else makes it I'd love feedback.

ps to be clear, the diced ginger and lemon rind go into the carboy for the duration of the ferment.

 

[torilen]

Sounds interesting. I may have to try that one. Thanks.