Flavoring after Fermintation

[darkshardx]

Ok, so I have my first 3 gallon batch of mead (just honey water yeast) that has been bulk aging for 6 months. I'm thinking I'm ready to bottle, but I would also like to split up the 3 gallons into different flavor experiments. I have 750ml bottles that I will be using, and ideally I'd like to do one or two bottles per flavor. I'm having difficulty thinking about how to add spices or teas to these bottles, however.

For dry spices, I will likely pick up a little vodka and make an extract that I will then add to the bottle before filling it with mead. Will the vodka cause an off flavor in the mead?

For the teas, I had originally thought that I would steep multiple bags in a small amount of hot water and add that concentrate to bottles. The more I think about it though, the more I worry about dissolved oxygen getting into my mead. Any advice here?

Am I better off just bottling all plain mead at this point, or can I still do some experimentation with flavors?

 

[CKuhns]

I would encourage experimentation. However would suggest a couple of things you may want to consider:

- Bottle at least a gallon as-is. You will want to see how it ages.
- Unflavored Vodka is neutral and will not impart any flavor. It obviously will add alcohol and if not used sparingly will impact your Mead with an alcohol "bite".
- It is much easier to add spices / flavors to your bulk container(s) before bottling. I have found it is pretty hard to get consistent flavors when trying to add them to each bottle at bottling.
- Spices - Use whole spices only, you can soak them in a little vodka (just enough to cover) but not required. Your whole spices are pretty unlikely to carry any "nasties" and your alcohol already in the Mead will protect you. If you want to soak them to be safe certainly would not hurt.

Check the spice level after a week and again every few days until you get he flavor you like then remove them. (Placing them in a sanitized nylon bag for easy removal is a good plan) Also, most spices will age out over time and be less pronounced. (Note - ground spices are almost impossible to remove from your Mead and will continue to impart flavor for a long long time.)

- As far as tea goes:
At this stage just drop your bags into your Mead and cold steep them again for a week or more. I have found Hibiscus Tea, Back tea and Orange Pekoh work well and round out mouth feel and flavor. It will take some time but in my opinion is better than diluting your Mead with the water / tea.

In the future you can steep tea in your water cool it and use it when mixing your honey for primary. (This works really well.)

Good Luck and happy experimenting. That's what this hobby is all about. If you find something that works well be sure to share it.