Tea in secondary

[lpsumo]

Hi all

I got some fun tea (both herbal and non) for Christmas, hoping to add them to a plain mead in secondary.

What's a general guideline for the # of teabags for 1 gallon? I figured I'd brew the tea and then add that versus just putting the bags right into secondary

Thanks

 

[CKuhns]

The amount of tea tonuse really depends on the tea itself and flavor you are looking for. Tea in secondary can be done either way, just drop 2 to 4 tea bags in for a few days or steep them in a cup of water for 15 minutes. I guess it depends on the flavor you are looking for. Better to start with small additions to taste. You can always add more but once in cant take it out.

 

[bernardsmith]

This is an interesting question. And CKuhns has an equally interesting answer. My own practice - and I have only made tea wine a handful of times - is to treat the tea as tea I would drink if there was no alcohol in it, so I use enough tea to make a gallon of normal strength tea and then add the sugar I want to ferment. If you are looking for only a hint of the tea flavors then the two to four bags may be enough but if you are looking for a fully flavored tea wine then you might need more like 15 bags/gallon (or whatever the packaging company suggests). Mind you my roots are in Scotland and the British know how to make tea (unlike the folk in the USA), though, sadly the British don't know how to make good coffee.

 

[lpsumo]

Good points

I've read a lot of recipes where people use tea, seems like anywhere from 2 to 20 tea bags per gallon. Starting small does make sense, but as the mead ages I wonder if the flavour gets weaker or more pronounced?

I suppose if I brewed a few bags really strong that would help add more tannins to the mead for a better mouthfeel?

I have a carrot cake black tea and a raspberry cream black tea that I'm eager to try.