First attempt not quite as expected

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Hey all,

This is my first attempt at making wine, and I decided to ferment some tea.
I'm making a 1 gallon batch and just did a really simple oolong tea.

So my recipe was
-1 cup tea leaves
-1 lb sugar
-1 tsp DAP
-1/2 tsp Yeast Energizer
-Campden tablet
-D47 Wine Yeast

I brewed the tea, added everything but the yeast, let it sit for 24 hours, then added the yeast and let it go. Today marks 2 weeks since I started the fermentation and everything seems to have gone fine. No signs of contamination or anything. I just racked it into another container and poured out a small sample to try.
It sorta just tasted like a cheap flavorless wine. The tea flavor/smell is pretty much gone. Additionally, I've noticed that the color is much lighter than before fermentation. It went from dark brown to more of a pale yellow and is more translucent.
I know I've still got months of waiting to go, but will the tea flavors magically come back? I don't see how they could. I was hoping to end up with something that still tasted mostly like normal tea, but with some alcohol in it.
 
Last edited:
I've done a tea wine once before (and only once before). One major thing to consider is that there is not sufficient acidity to get the pH down where the campden tablets will be effective, which otherwise puts the wine at risk of spoilage and oxidation. I added enough citric acid to lower the pH to 3.5 for the fermentation. The goal was to make a lemony hard tea.

Regardless, my results were similar to yours. I got a light colored tea wine that was somewhat flavorless and didn't meet my objective for the wine. It went down the drain and I haven't looked back. Just sharing my experience. There are others here who have made tea wine that they've enjoyed.
 
Hey all,

This is my first attempt at making wine, and I decided to ferment some tea.
I'm making a 1 gallon batch and just did a really simple oolong tea.

So my recipe was
-1 cup tea leaves
-1 lb sugar
-1 tsp DAP
-1/2 tsp Yeast Energizer
-Campden tablet
-D47 Wine Yeast

I brewed the tea, added everything but the yeast, let it sit for 24 hours, then added the yeast and let it go. Today marks 2 weeks since I started the fermentation and everything seems to have gone fine. No signs of contamination or anything. I just racked it into another container and poured out a small sample to try.
It sorta just tasted like a cheap flavorless wine. The tea flavor/smell is pretty much gone. Additionally, I've noticed that the color is much lighter than before fermentation. It went from dark brown to more of a pale yellow and is more translucent.
I know I've still got months of waiting to go, but will the tea flavors magically come back? I don't see how they could. I was hoping to end up with something that still tasted mostly like normal tea, but with some alcohol in it.
Tea wine needs Sultanas or raisins or Grape concentrate to make it more wine-like.
I drink black tea, straight, no milk, no sugar. Most people in UK have milk and sugar.
Some people add a tot of Whisky or Rum if they've got a cold, but that's adding flavour as well as alcohol.
I don't think I've ever heard of anyone adding something almost flavourless like Vodka, but if that's what you're looking for why not try it!
 
I would suggest starting out with a wine variety that is perhaps a bit more mainstream as far as the juice source. Fruit, grapes, something that has most of the basics there with just minor additions like sugar, a little tannin or a little acid blend. You started with something a bit more exotic and without a basic understanding of the process and progression of the fermentation, clearing and aging process, your path is loaded with unknowns that make it much more difficult.

Maybe even somthing as simple as a can of White Grape Juice concentrate - so you can see it through quickly and.... being a white grape wine, the aging process is much faster.
 

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