Home made wine is really very easy to make and one kind of wine that is very inexpensive but which can be very delicious is a wine made from tea. I just fermented a gallon (4 l) of lapsang souchong tea - using about 30 g of tea over which I poured a scant 4 l of water and allowed the tea to steep for about 5-10 minutes. I strained the tea and allowed it to cool. When cool to room temperature. I added about 1.36 k of honey but this could have been about 1 k of sugar. I then added some wine yeast (D47 was what I had).
Honey has no nutrients for the yeast so I added about 1/2 t of nutrients but you can simply proof some dry bread yeast in a little sugar water and then microwave or boil this to kill the yeast. The dead cells provide the yeast with the nutrients they need.
To give this a little kick before bottling my plan is to add 1 T of lemon extract I made and perhaps 1 T of grains of paradise. Lapsang souchong tea has a smoky flavor and it took about 3 weeks for this tea to drop from close to a starting gravity of about 1.090 to .992 (about 12% alcohol by volume). This is still in a carboy as it clears bright but I tasted this yesterday (started the whole thing on 19th of June) and it really is quite delightful for a wine that is three weeks old .. I think the ingredients may have cost me about $15.00 altogether and 4 l will give me 5 bottles (750 mil) so with the honey about $3.00 a bottle.
inexpensive but delicious wine from tea...
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- Barbara Good
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Re: inexpensive but delicious wine from tea...
That sounds interesting, if a little weird (smoky wine?). I've made wine from fruit teas and added ordinary black or green tea to red country wines to bump up the tannin a bit, but never entirely from tea.
It sounds like a great wine to start during the winter months when there's not much fresh produce about.
Let us know how it turns out - I'm guessing it will change over time because of the tannins - yes?
It sounds like a great wine to start during the winter months when there's not much fresh produce about.
Let us know how it turns out - I'm guessing it will change over time because of the tannins - yes?
Maggie
Never doubt that you can change history. You already have. Marge Piercy
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. Anais Nin
Never doubt that you can change history. You already have. Marge Piercy
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. Anais Nin
Re: inexpensive but delicious wine from tea...
Tea wine is one that I make regularly, although I've only made it from Morrison's own brand red label tea bags (ignoring the fruit tea bags). It always make a surprisingly good wine, both young and old (if I resist supping it for long enough).
I tend to use a little over a kilo of sugar for a gallon of wine, but that's me liking stuff on the stronger side
I tend to use a little over a kilo of sugar for a gallon of wine, but that's me liking stuff on the stronger side