My writeups, they are fashionably late. Sorry.

This is another tea-based metheglin with jasmine green tea and orange blossom honey. It doesn't have a real name yet, but I'll come up with something one of these days.

Ingredients in this batch

  • 2 lbs 9 oz Bennett's orange blossom honey
  • 4 Tbsp Chinese green jasmine tea from Fujian Tea Import & Export Co.
  • 1 tsp yeast nutrient
  • ½ tsp yeast energizer
  • ½ pack of Lalvin 1122 wine yeast, rehydrated in ¼ cup of 100-degree water

Yield: 1-gallon batches are where it's at.

Instructions

I steeped the green tea in ½ gallon distilled water off the boil for 20 minutes, then cooled it in the pot to a little above room temp. I added the honey, tea, energizer, and nutrient to the carboy, mixed, and topped up to 1 gallon. I aerated for a good 5 minutes, then pitched the yeast. Starting gravity was 1.099.

Observations

  • 2017-03-20T16:00:00: This batch clarified really quickly and looked ready to bottle sooner than almost any mead I've made so far. I'll credit the cool winter temperatures, I suppose. Initial taste tests were delightfully floral.