Adding spice to drinks is a technique that has been used for thousands of years, such as hops in beer or the cloves and cinnamon in apple juice during Christmas (a watered down version of Wassail).
In my experience the most heavily used spices are (in no particular order):
You are going to want to get an idea of what the mead would tase like. Take a proportional amount of the spice, throw it in some warm water and let it extract like tea. Add a bit of sweetener; strain and taste. This will not give you an exact taste, but you will be able to see if one flavor overbears another.
Most spices require heating to begin the extraction process. You can do this while you are heating your honey, or in a separate pot if you don't want to heat your honey.
If you are using fresh spices, particularly the leafy ones (like Black Peppermint), you can't just add the leaves to the must. Warm some water to about 150 degrees and add the spices, and keep it about that temperature for an hour. Do not boil the water, as you might get bad tastes. Once it has extracted, strain and add to your must.
If you are using dried, don't worry about the spice getting in the fermenting mead; it will fall to the bottom with the dead yeast.
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