Venturing beyond a kit...orange spiced chai tea wine in carboy. Thoughts?

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Swediepie

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This is my first big step away from a kit wine, so bear with me and my nervousness!

I got the nerve to start a chai tea wine. Today I boiled a gallon of water, added 10lbs of sugar to dissolve, and then added 50 spiced chai tea bags and let them steep for 30 minutes.

I removed the tea bags and transferred the delicious sugared chai tea to a 5-gallon carboy. I popped in a cinnamon stick, and added water up to about 4.75 gallons because there was a foam from the pouring.

I took an SG reading of 1.072. After all of my reading, I'm still wondering what the heck this means, but I hope to be where I need to be. I added a package of Red Star Champagne Yeast, and added the bung and airlock and I think I'm good to go.

This is where I appreciate your advice. Most tea wine info/advice says to just let this sit it out for 30-45 days and bottle. I would like to sweeten it with an entire (or half?) container of frozen orange juice concentrate. I love chai tea and especially love orange. Should I add this when fermentation ceases? At a certain SG? This is where I come in clueless, and will continue to read and research, as that is what got me here so far!

:hug
 
I would add it now, personally

Your SG is a bit low and that will help you get closer to 1.085; if you add it now you can remeasure and track the SG more accurately. An SG reading is an estimate on thick or viscous your must is, as you add sugar it gets thicker. Water generally has a reading of 1.000 and alcohol less than that which is how we get readings in the .990-.999 range. So in the beginning, you have a high SG (thick, viscous must, a lot of sugar) and as the fermentation progresses, the must thins out, the sugar turns to alcohol & co2, and you track the decrease in sugar / increase in alcohol by how far it moves on the SG-scale.

If fermentation finishes, and you let it age for a while.. And it doesnt quite hit the mark, as to what you're thinking, you can boil a small pot of tea with quite a few bags in it, and add some orange peel, and it will be a "F-Pack" of sorts..
 
Thank you, Manley! I've just added the frozen orange juice concentrate and got a reading of 1.08. A little better. I'll definitely consider adding an orange zest/taste to it like you suggest later on. I appreciate your help!
 
I am currently experimenting with a gallon of cinnamon apple spice wine for my wife who really likes that tea. Your wine will be less intense than mine as I based the quantity of tea on the number of cups there would be in a gallon (about 16). I assumed for this experiment that if the tea would taste OK then I could use that concentration as the basis for the wine but could then add more concentrated tea (if needed) as a flavor pack as I backsweetened.Anyway, I used 20 tea bags in the gallon which is about twice as much as you (10 bags to the gallon), and I let the tea steep for about 24 hours before removing and then pitching the yeast. I started this about a month ago (SG of about 1.085) but it has not yet fermented dry.
You don't say whether you added any nutrient for the yeast. I am not sure that there will be a great deal of nutrients in the tea. You also don't say whether you took any reading of the acidity of the tea. I think you may want the pH it to be close to about 3.5. The orange juice you added may have helped to reduce the pH closer to that level. (I think the wine may need to to have that level of acidity even if the tea itself was not drunk as acidic in part to reduce the need for higher levels of SO2 and in part to balance the alcohol and residual sweetness). but others here who have more experience may disagree and disagree strongly...
 
I think I'll steep overnight and up the tea bag count if I try this again- great idea.

I'm clueless on the pH and whether to add nutrient. I have yeast nutrient in my supplies. Is there any harm in adding some at this point?

I was very happy this morning to see that fermentation had begun!
 
Add half the amount of nutrient now, and add the other half when the S.G. gets down to 1.040 or so. Make sure you have some room at the top of the fermenter as the nutrient can make the furment really take off. Arne.
 
I would be happy with that SG and final ABV, assuming it ferments out. I agree with Bernard, the acid would be my next concern. Test it before changing anything in case the frozen concentrate was enough...my off-the-top-of-my-head calculations make me think you may be close.
 
Can you tell me how to test the acid?

I did add yeast nutrient today (1.25 tsp) and I'll take Arne's advice to add some more around 1.04.

I now know how to create a volcano project for my kids if they ever need one, by the way! Holy explosion. I didn't lose much, and it made me laugh my *** off! :)
 
Swediepie said:
Can you tell me how to test the acid?

I did add yeast nutrient today (1.25 tsp) and I'll take Arne's advice to add some more around 1.04.

I now know how to create a volcano project for my kids if they ever need one, by the way! Holy explosion. I didn't lose much, and it made me laugh my *** off! :)

An infant gas drop will stop that volcano and then fall into the lees and get left behind during racking.
 
I guess I am old school, I do not even know what chai tea is.
I am from Texas, all we drink is sweet tea.
What is chai tea.
Thanks
 
Having made chai mead, I do think you are going to find that your chai taste will be dimished, just based off the amount of chai you used. Plus, much of the spice is usually lost in primary ferment. What I would actually recommend is that once the must has reached FG, remove just enough and warm it just enough so that you can steep some additional chai tea in it. And then add the additionally spiced wine back to the carboy. Or, if you have access to liquid chai tea you can use that. You will find that if you try to backsweeten with OJ/concentrate you will likely cloud this wine. You would do much better by making an orange simple syrup, or even a chai orange syrup. Just make sure there is no white pith on your orange peels. On the orange note, Tazo tea makes a spiced orange tea and I know it would go fabulously with your chai component. Keep us posted.
 
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just curious, could you take some grand marnier and use in place of the orange juice....it has alcohol but not that much and there is no acid in it like orange juice so it would not cloud the wine.
just asking.
 
Thanks for the tips! It's a learning curve for me. I'm definitely going to be making this again with some of the suggestions. I've already added the orange juice, so we'll see how things go. I will add in more chai tea later on to up the taste. At least if the entire batch stinks or is cloudy, it cost a minimal amount for my first experiment, and either way I'll still drink it! (Loving the idea of adding grand marnier- I might still do that!)

Meanwhile it's fizzing away like crazy, and I'm enjoying being able to see the ferment in the carboy for the first time- all of the kits I've done in a bucket and have missed the visual part of it. And it smells so good!
 
For jamesngalveston: I think chai tea, originally, is simply tea that was brewed with boiling milk rather than water. The British (English) colloquial name for any tea when I grew up there was "cha" (from their history in India). Chai tea in the USA is made with added spices.
And regarding your question about the cloudiness that might result from adding OJ, I am not sure that the cause of any additional cloudiness would be because of the acidity. It would come from the particles of fruit pulp (orange juice is not "clear". It is translucent if not almost opaque. Shine a light through it and the beam scatters. Shine a light through your wine and you expect that beam to be narrowly focused - That transparency , that freedom from suspended particles is what enables you to read through a bottle of wine.) Those particles will remain suspended unless they are encouraged to collect and gather - to flocculate (I love that word) and their aggregated weight forces them to drop to the bottom.
 
I guess I am old school, I do not even know what chai tea is.
I am from Texas, all we drink is sweet tea.
What is chai tea.
Thanks

Chai (pronounced 'ch with a long i') tea is typically a well spiced, honey tea which can be blended with warm milk, nutmilk or even cream. It is not necessary to add the milk component, though most are prepared this way. The spices used can vary and in the Middle East you can commonly find 'chai tea masters', individuals who are trained in the art of spice use and the chai tea preparation, kind of like a 'tea doctor'. Common ingredients in chai tea are: black/green tea, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, orange peel, vanilla, star anise, allspice, peppercorns, etc. The commercially prepared chai teas are nothing like a cup of chai served in Iraq or India. But in lieu of having a tea master custom make your blend, or learning to do it yourself with fresh spices, you can find suitable commercial products such as a liquid Chai concentrate made by Tazo (all you need to add is more water or milk), or prefilled teabags, and there are even 'instant' powdered products out there, even Starbucks has chai on its menu. Even iced chai is refreshing. Try one, you may find you enjoy it.
 
I'm wondering if I may have some advice.

Today I decided to rack the wine for the first time. I took an SG reading of .996. I am very happy with it and I love the flavor so far. I'm not really sure at this point what I might do with flavoring/sweetening down the road, because it's tasting very nice as is.

Should I add anything to the carboy? Am I to sulfite at this point?

I believe my challenge with this wine will be in clearing it, as I added a can of orange juice at the beginning. Should I add anything for clearing? (I'm in no rush, and can give it another racking at some point- is that a better choice, or should I try to clear it now?)

Also, is it necessary to top up, and are there any suggestions as to what I should use to top up with?

Thanks for any advice!
 
As for topping up, I might seriously consider some more tea!

This noob would sulfite it at this point. I might also consider some pectic enzyme before trying any standard fining agents.

I'd be interested in knowing what the pH or TA is on this wine if you have any way of checking.
 
In regard to sulfite, if you did not add any at time of pitching yeast back on 5/10 or around there I would definitely get a dose on board. For clearing, this is still a baby so it has gas. The serial racking you will be doing over the next few months will help with degassing naturally of course, and the wine should start to clear. You could fine later if you are having trouble clearing. Bentonite is always an option, and some swear by egg whites, sparkalloid, superkleer, etc. I like time.
 
Thank you! What a great idea to add in some chai tea to top up- I'm going to do that! My head gets so confused and nervous that I'll screw this one up, and I feel like have a unique thing going on here that I don't want to mess too much with.

I'll add the sulfite- thank you Saramc for the details/assistance in my message to you. I'll let it sit and rack again before I consider any clearing agent. I appreciate it!
 

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