Chocolate Mint

[MedPretzel]

<DIV ="postcolor">Here's the recipe I used as a guide from Terry Garey's book.
<DIV ="postcolor">It makes 1 gallon of "Martina's After Eight" (you could also call it Peppermint Patty wine) wine:

4 cups of chocolate mint, chopped -- they were frozen.
3 lbs sugar
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1/8 tsp tannin
pectic enzyme (Ms. Garey says don't, but I did...)
3 tsps. acid blend
1 campden tablet
1 packet of Montrachet yeast

Water to one gallon

Let the water boil, add the herbs. Take the mixture off the stove, and let it sit overnight. You can adjust the amount of herbs and/or the amount of time you let it seep to adjust the flavor. I'm very impatient, so 4 cups and overnight worked just fine for me.

Add everything else when the water is room temp (sugar, etc). I used a little more sugar than Ms. Garey says-- I usually go by SG, so I added enough sugar to get to about 1.085to 1.095....

Ferment out (SG 0.990). Clears very well on its own. I started this one on the 21st of August 2004, and it was done already in October. I personally don't think it needs additional sugar, since the taste and smell are so unique, but I think once could sweeten to taste...

 

[MedPretzel]

Oh, I forgot to add, you basically can use any type of mint for this wine. My sister had Chocolate Mint at her farm, and this year, my mom's peppermint took over, so it's a lot of peppermint for me (enough for 5 gallons!!!!).

 

[Wayne1]

Hello MedPretzel if you are still here - I am wondering how this wine turned out? Has anyone else tried it? I think the DollarTree may have the chocolate mints so could make up a big batch fairly inexpensively.
Wayne

 

[NorthernWinos]

I think what she used was a herb that has a chocolate mint flavor and fragrance....A member of the mint family. Martina is into flower and vegetable wines....she lives in Germany now as far as I know.

People have added Cocoa powder to wine and I have seen a recipe someplace for Candy Cane Wine....

Use your imagination...anything is possible.

 

[NorthernWinos]

http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/menpiperitachocolate.htm

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Chocolate Mint (Mentha
piperita cv.) neither smells nor tastes
like chocolate, but rather it is reminiscent of an Andes after-dinner chocolate
Mint. Thus, the
suggestion of Chocolate is there and is strong enough to make us love it.
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Great dried and added to black tea or used by
itself, Chocolate Mint also makes a nice addition to chocolate
deserts or a surprise addition to breakfast breads, as in our special <a href="http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/recipechocolatemintbananabread.htm" target="_blank">Chocolate
Mint Banana Bread Recipe</a>.</font>
As you can see the Chocolate Mint flower opens from the bottom up. The
green pods on the left are bracts that have already dropped their flowers.
The tip will continue to elongate and flower.</font>
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Mints develop their best colors and flavors when grown in the sun like this
Chocolate Mint. There are two growth phases for mints, at first,
in early spring, the stems head up to make flowers. After flower
production, the horizontal runners take off and cover a lot of distance in
a short time. Bees and Butterflies love mint flowers.</font>
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<td width="40%">Chocolate Mint is one of the six plants
included in our fun

<a href="http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/herbgardenassort.htm#Kids" target="_blank">Kid's Herb Garden
Six Pack

</a>and in our


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Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[Wayne1]

OK - thanks for the information - that looks pretty interesting - we may have to grow some next season!

 

[Wayne1]

oh yes - does anyone know, would you use the leaves or would you have to use the flowers? I think (and hope) it would be the leaves

 

[NorthernWinos]

I think it would be the leaves....
I have smelled this plant in a greenhouse and it was really pleasant.

 

[boozinsusan]

OK - thanks for the information - that looks pretty interesting - we may have to grow some next season!

If you do grow mint - remember that it is incredibly invasive, and the roots grow above ground and set back in (so they "crawl"). They will quadruple in size (at least) every year.


I put it into places where noting else will grow, and if you accidentally hit it with the lawnmower, you have a lovely smelling yard.....or put edging set deep and also up about 2-3 inches above ground around it, to contain it a little.


Make sure you get a kind you like, since you will never be able to get rid of it.

 

[Wayne1]

Hello - found plants locally for sale and have 5 growing - I heard it was invasive so have them in pots - have been nurturing them along all summer and am trying to find the time to pick the leaves and turn them into wine!

 

[Wade E]

Thanks for the update on this, sounds pretty interesting.

 

[boozinsusan]

Wayne, where I am, you can pick anytime.... don't worry, they will keep growing......

 

[Wayne1]

Thanks Susan - I just keep watering them and trimming off the flowers so they will keep making leaves (I hope)
Wayne

 

[boozinsusan]

Wondering on the recipe - was the 4 cups of mint measured before or after freezing?

 

[boozinsusan]

Thanks Susan - I just keep watering them and trimming off the flowers so they will keep making leaves (I hope)
Wayne

Yup, that's what should happen....in the patch of the mint that a previous tenant put in the flower bed here, I dug a lot of it out during the summer, and it all came back...... I can be pretty ruthless with mine....

 

[boozinsusan]

<DIV ="postcolor">Here's the recipe I used as a guide from Terry Garey's book.
<DIV ="postcolor">It makes 1 gallon of "Martina's After Eight" (you could also call it Peppermint Patty wine) wine:

4 cups of chocolate mint, chopped -- they were frozen.
3 lbs sugar
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1/8 tsp tannin
pectic enzyme (Ms. Garey says don't, but I did...)
3 tsps. acid blend
1 campden tablet
1 packet of Montrachet yeast

Water to one gallon

Let the water boil, add the herbs. Take the mixture off the stove, and let it sit overnight. You can adjust the amount of herbs and/or the amount of time you let it seep to adjust the flavor. I'm very impatient, so 4 cups and overnight worked just fine for me.

Add everything else when the water is room temp (sugar, etc). I used a little more sugar than Ms. Garey says-- I usually go by SG, so I added enough sugar to get to about 1.085to 1.095....

Ferment out (SG 0.990). Clears very well on its own. I started this one on the 21st of August 2004, and it was done already in October. I personally don't think it needs additional sugar, since the taste and smell are so unique, but I think once could sweeten to taste...

Was the mint frozen before or after measuring? I am harvesting some mint, and putting it into the freezer, per this recipe. I am putting it into 4 tightly packed cup measures, in case that is how you measure. Otherwise, I can combine the packages when thawed to make 4 cups......

 

[boozinsusan]

Started this last night - one gallon.


Thinking that when I rack, I will wish I had strained the mint leaves, or thought of putting them in a straining bag....... oh well, lesson learned.....

If this goes well, I was thinking of making a chocolate mint kind of concoction - so it would be like an Andes mint in a glass..... anyone have any suggestions how I would go about this?

 

[vcasey]

You can add chocolate baking powder. I have used Hersey's with success, but plan on a lot of sediment and then plan on a little more. Also it will take a while for the chocolate to lose the bitter taste and come out in the wine so know you'll need to age this close to 2 years. The last time I made something with chocolate powder I used 1/2 per 1/2 gallon. This was for a cayenne chocolate mead and the chocolate was coming through nicely when it was bottled. I used 3.2 oz in a gallon of mocha mead and that one was also showing well at bottling. Why I measured one and weighed the other is beyond me - 2 different days.
Love this idea and it is the direction I am considering when I make mine.
VC

 

[boozinsusan]

Thanks for the info.


If you use hot chocolate mix, you would have too much sugar and not enough chocolate, wouldn't you? The reason I ask us that I have some high end hot chocolate mix (with red vanilla bean and cinnamon) that is too strong as hot chocolate, even made weak.

 

[vcasey]

I have no idea about using a hot chocolate mix. Don't most of them contain dairy? Not something I would want in my wine even if I could have it so double check first and be careful about the words natural or artificial flavor because that is one way they sneak dairy into products. BTW, chocolate powder is really challenging to mix in to the must. I usually put some of the must in the blender and slowly add the powder until its mixed well and then whisk it into the rest of the must. My husband made a beer using the syrup one time and that turned out great and he had no troubles mixing it in his brew.
VC