Spices

[Swobee]

Never having made a true Metheglin to date, I have a couple of questions regarding adding spices. I know Ben Brewcat likes tinctures for spicing up mead. Until I get brave and try making my own tinctures, does Ben or anyone have advice for some rules of thumb when adding spices to mead? I have a carbouy or two that are really decent, I mean darn tasty considering they came from my 'lab'. I poured a glass of our own last evening for my wife and she asked 'where is this from?... it's really good!' I told her 'from our basement'. She just smiled and said 'I think you're actually getting the hang of this mead-thing'.

I bought some fantastic Vanilla & Juniper Berry meads from Redstone Meadery during a trip to Boulder, Colo. earlier this year and want to try to mimic theirs. For 5 gal. of sack mead to be spiced, approximately how many juniper berries, what preparation is needed (crushing, pinching, teasing, taunting, etc.) and for about how long to keep them in the carbouy? Would you just place some in for a while, then do a sample taste every few days?

Thanks!

[Ben Brewcat]

Hmmm... I've never used juniper myself, but I think you're on the right track. Are yours fresh, dried from a source, where'd they come from? Wash them gently and then maybe bruise with pestle or rolling pin. The thing with spices like juniper (an many others) is they have a very narrow window of balanced flavor. That is, a little too much and WOW do you have too much. Juniper would be a great candidate for tinctures for this reason :).

That said, as a total shot in the dark (wait to see if anyone chimes in with experiential comments!) I'd try a half-cup for starters and taste after a few days for caution, then each week or so thereafter. If it's not accumulating the character quickly enough, add as many more as you think will get you up to speed. The berries will vary a lot in flavor power depending on lots of factors, so take measurements with a grain of salt and experiment.

[Swobee]

Thanks, Ben. I haven't ordered any Juniper Berries just yet, but have some vanilla beans and other spices to try out. I have to admit, Redstone's meads were the best tasting I've tried. We bought the juniper berry to keep for our anniversary. It was amazing (both the anniversary and their mead). Now, I would just like to get some or any of my batches to be as good as theirs!

My wife is very happy with the most recent batches I've bottled. Our Plum and Sack all received good accolades at the Christmas parties we attended this past weekend. We shared with some friends and co-workers and either they were being nice or they liked them as much as we do! I had a hard time getting anyone to try the tomato mead. It's far better than it sounds... doesn't taste like tomatoes any more than a good regular wine tastes like grape juice. I do need to back sweeten it some, as it's a little dry for our taste buds.

Time to take this meading up to a higher level now. I think a tincture is just the ticket - thanks again.

[nursebee]

You have satisfied the only person it matters to in my opinion so keep doing what you are doing, you are your own expert!

I do not know Ben's ideas on tinctures but have some of my own and my wife's ideas on spices. First off, get quality and fresh. We prefer Penzeys, a real treat of a store if you have one near you. They just taste different. Secondly, I have read and noted that flavors of any kind added at the start of what is for me a long fermentation tend to be weaker with time. For this reason, if looking for a flavor to come through well one has to add more of the flavor as the process goes along. I've added at primary, secondary, and bottling with fingers crossed to get good flavors. I suspect this is where a tincture would go nice to add the flavors without the floaters or sediment.

Beers have hops added at various stages that come through in varying degrees for base flavor, then later additions add more for aromas, I think of meads as similar.

Wassail!