Flavored Tea in bags?

[bmd2k1]

Anyone using flavored tea in bags Post Fermentation to impart flavor(s) to your cider? Curious what you are using, how much & for how long?

Cheers [emoji111]

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

I've thought about it, but never actually done it. So I too am interested in the answers you get.

 

[CKuhns]

I tried a number of teas ( black, orange peko, hibiscus, and Good Earth Sweet & Spicy.) First in primary and then in secondary in an attempt to bring some tannins. Never really satisfied with them for tannins.

I did find that I liked hibiscus and Good Earth Sweet & Spicy not for the tannins, but for the flavors they brought. Hibiscus is kind of nice a mellow mouth feel and of course a real interesting dark red color. The Good Earth was similar to adding mulling spices.

In secondary:
- Whole teas like Hibiscus i did 2 oz "leaf" (dried flower petals) in a small mesh bag similar to dry hopping but 10 to 14 days.
- Tea bags like Orange Peko or Good Earth. 12 tea bags with the string and tag removed 14 to 21 days just dropped right in. I did have a couple tea bags come open and made racking really difficult. If I were to do tea bags again I would place them loosely in a small mesh bag.

Here are the ingredients from the Good Earth box. 'black tea, natural flavor, rosehip, lemongrass, cinnamon, chamomile, peppermint, jasmine green tea, anise seed, ginger root, orange peel, orange oil" ( I still drink Good Earth as a hot tea and Hibiscusc as an iced tea.)

I did them in 5 gallon batches of FAJC OG 1.065, FG 1.004 with SO4 yeast added during secondary after racking from primary at about 1.010.

As implied above. I no longer add teas have found that they just are not what I prefer. But that's just my personal preference.

 

[bmd2k1]

Anyone using flavored tea in bags Post Fermentation to impart flavor(s) to your cider? Curious what you are using, how much & for how long?

Cheers [emoji111]

In the spirit of the Christmas season I'm giving some 100% Peppermint tea a whirl in a test 1/2gal batch - using 2 Celestial Seasons bags. Hoping for just a hint of peppermint aroma and taste [emoji106]

Cheers [emoji111]

 

[bmd2k1]

In the spirit of the Christmas season I'm giving some 100% Peppermint tea a whirl in a test 1/2gal batch - using 2 Celestial Seasons bags. Hoping for just a hint of peppermint aroma and taste [emoji106]

Cheers [emoji111]

Tasted this test batch after 3 days & thinking it's just about right! Hint of peppermint aroma & taste as hoped for -- gonna have a few more taste testers sample. If anything...1 additional bag would suffice...

In doing some research about cold brewed teas -- seems the general consensus is it really only takes 24hrs (or overnite) in the fridge to extract all the flavor the bags have - so there's diminishing marginal returns on anything over that.

Cheers [emoji111]

 

[CKuhns]

"In doing some research about cold brewed teas -- seems the general consensus is it really only takes 24hrs (or overnite) in the fridge to extract all the flavor the bags have - so there's diminishing marginal returns on anything over that."

That's really good to know. I was concerned about bitter flavors similar to steeping them in water for more than 15 minutes. Didn't notice any when I just adding them to secondary but if not adding any additional flavor after 24 hours no real reason to leave them.

 

[Tadeusz Leliwa]

This sounds like a great idea that I should try out! Just a couple of notes about teas and tisanes. Tisanes (what people often call herbal teas) are in general resistant to overinfusing - you won’t get a bitter taste from boiling the heck of peppermint. With loose leaf teas, if they are high quality Chinese teas, they are generally quite large leafs, so you can easily filter them out. This might be trickier with Japanese teas that are processed differently so even high quality teas have smaller fragments. Nevertheless, there are a couple of Japanese teas that are designed for infusions at lower temperatures (e.g. gyokoryu is sometimes recommended for infusion as low as 40 degree C). The issue is, of course, how much of the subtle flavour of a high quality tea will remain once it is in the booze.