Martina
- Thread starter greenbean
- Start date
Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:
MedPretzel
Senior Member
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2004
- Messages
- 2,239
- Reaction score
- 10
Sorry for the late response, I've been away from the computer for a while.
Don't hold me to it, but I believe I have heard of Jasmine wine. I have never tried it, but I would check with a local extension agency and/or library to make sure they are edible.
(You get the drift from all my posts that you should thoroughly check this before you start.)
If it is edible, I would pick another quart or two. It's always best to have double of everything before you make it (called Martina's rule in my mind). It's a lot easier to tone things down than to beef them up after thefact (take, for example, my lavender and pumpkin wines).I think I woulduse 2 loosely packed quarts to one gallon of wine.
Now, this is my methodology in doing flower-petal wines: Since I usually realize things "after-the-fact" try this. Pick the petals off the bud of the flower and put them in a measuring cup while your doing it. Don't wash them yet. Just throw what you pluck off into the measuring cup. For every full cup, write down the amount you have. I have a terrible memory, and I forgot to do this a few times. So, lots of variation was in my wines before I did this. Once you have the grand total, dump all of the petals in a strainer. Run cold water over them and dump them into a sanitized straining bag. Put the straining bagin a zip-lock or other baggie to freeze them. Let them freeze for at least a week, but 2 is better. When you are ready to make the wine, all you need to do is take the frozen petals out of the freezer and into the primary and go on with your recipe as usual.
If you can, this is what I do when making a new wine that I've actually picked from flowers: Pick all that you can. If you pick just enough for 1 gallon, you can only make one gallon. Then you might just have to wait a year before making another one like it. Sad, if you only made one gallon = 4-5 bottles if racking goes right. Now if you pick enough to make 2 gallons, you've got 10 bottles, if all goes well. That sounds pretty good (one bottle every 6 weeks for a year!) to me.
A lot of people ask me about how much sugar I put into my wines. I never know the exact amount because I strictly rely on my hydrometer for this. I usually aim for 1.080 or 1.090 and add sugar until I hit that number. 1.090 is a little on the high side, but it is certainly worth considering if you plan to top up with water, which I often do.
I hope this helps, and I'm sorry for the very late response. Please, let me know how this turns out, because I am very interested in this one!
Don't hold me to it, but I believe I have heard of Jasmine wine. I have never tried it, but I would check with a local extension agency and/or library to make sure they are edible.
(You get the drift from all my posts that you should thoroughly check this before you start.)
If it is edible, I would pick another quart or two. It's always best to have double of everything before you make it (called Martina's rule in my mind). It's a lot easier to tone things down than to beef them up after thefact (take, for example, my lavender and pumpkin wines).I think I woulduse 2 loosely packed quarts to one gallon of wine.
Now, this is my methodology in doing flower-petal wines: Since I usually realize things "after-the-fact" try this. Pick the petals off the bud of the flower and put them in a measuring cup while your doing it. Don't wash them yet. Just throw what you pluck off into the measuring cup. For every full cup, write down the amount you have. I have a terrible memory, and I forgot to do this a few times. So, lots of variation was in my wines before I did this. Once you have the grand total, dump all of the petals in a strainer. Run cold water over them and dump them into a sanitized straining bag. Put the straining bagin a zip-lock or other baggie to freeze them. Let them freeze for at least a week, but 2 is better. When you are ready to make the wine, all you need to do is take the frozen petals out of the freezer and into the primary and go on with your recipe as usual.
If you can, this is what I do when making a new wine that I've actually picked from flowers: Pick all that you can. If you pick just enough for 1 gallon, you can only make one gallon. Then you might just have to wait a year before making another one like it. Sad, if you only made one gallon = 4-5 bottles if racking goes right. Now if you pick enough to make 2 gallons, you've got 10 bottles, if all goes well. That sounds pretty good (one bottle every 6 weeks for a year!) to me.
A lot of people ask me about how much sugar I put into my wines. I never know the exact amount because I strictly rely on my hydrometer for this. I usually aim for 1.080 or 1.090 and add sugar until I hit that number. 1.090 is a little on the high side, but it is certainly worth considering if you plan to top up with water, which I often do.
I hope this helps, and I'm sorry for the very late response. Please, let me know how this turns out, because I am very interested in this one!
MedPretzel
Senior Member
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2004
- Messages
- 2,239
- Reaction score
- 10
Okay, I didn't feel like studying so I looked up Jasmine on the internet (googled: Jasmine edible and came up with this):
http://www.mymodernlife.com/edible.html
It seems to be that jasmine is edible, but I would probably double and triple check before you start. I cannot stress this enough.
I forgot to mention in my post above that you should really have 1.5 - 2 quarts of PETALS, not whole flowers. I'm sorry if that was somewhat unclear. I am almost 100% sure that it's 2 quarts per gallon, but I don't have any of my wine-making books with me, so if you have Terry Garey's book, it's under the part that says "tea, herbal, flower wines" I think. If someone has it, please post what she says. That is an excellent basic recipe to follow if you are unsure of how to "dose" things.
I also forgot to add, if the jasmine smells very, very strong when you have plucked them, I would tone down the recipe a little. For example, instead of 2 quarts, use 1.5... I made a lavender wine where the lavender smell just knocks your socks off. The taste is fine, but the smell is almost obnoxious. (My husband said, "It smells like I'm drinking bubble bath." I don't think that was a HUGE compliment?)
If the flower is dark, but the wine isn't, and you'd like to make it more like the flower or rose', use the dark Welch's instead. I know Glenvall will roll his eyes at this one, but it probably would not make that much of a difference in taste - just for looks. Lately, I've tried to stay away from concentrate and really "concentrate" (hehe) on "pure" mum wine, etc. I've had mixed results. See? if you have enough Jasmine for 2 gallons, you could try one with, and one without concentrate. If one tastes bland, you could always blend them together and make a good wine out of it.
Hope this helps,
Martina
http://www.mymodernlife.com/edible.html
It seems to be that jasmine is edible, but I would probably double and triple check before you start. I cannot stress this enough.
I forgot to mention in my post above that you should really have 1.5 - 2 quarts of PETALS, not whole flowers. I'm sorry if that was somewhat unclear. I am almost 100% sure that it's 2 quarts per gallon, but I don't have any of my wine-making books with me, so if you have Terry Garey's book, it's under the part that says "tea, herbal, flower wines" I think. If someone has it, please post what she says. That is an excellent basic recipe to follow if you are unsure of how to "dose" things.
I also forgot to add, if the jasmine smells very, very strong when you have plucked them, I would tone down the recipe a little. For example, instead of 2 quarts, use 1.5... I made a lavender wine where the lavender smell just knocks your socks off. The taste is fine, but the smell is almost obnoxious. (My husband said, "It smells like I'm drinking bubble bath." I don't think that was a HUGE compliment?)
If the flower is dark, but the wine isn't, and you'd like to make it more like the flower or rose', use the dark Welch's instead. I know Glenvall will roll his eyes at this one, but it probably would not make that much of a difference in taste - just for looks. Lately, I've tried to stay away from concentrate and really "concentrate" (hehe) on "pure" mum wine, etc. I've had mixed results. See? if you have enough Jasmine for 2 gallons, you could try one with, and one without concentrate. If one tastes bland, you could always blend them together and make a good wine out of it.
Hope this helps,
Martina
MedPretzel
Senior Member
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2004
- Messages
- 2,239
- Reaction score
- 10
I have to add one more thing (sorry, just came to me)...
Please post your final recipe in the recipe section. You are sparking my interest in this particular wine. Can't seem to get my mind off of it!
Thanks!
Please post your final recipe in the recipe section. You are sparking my interest in this particular wine. Can't seem to get my mind off of it!
Thanks!
Thank you Martina. The Jasmine is a yellow flower and has an almost intoxicating smell. If I get 4 or 5 flowers in my hand and sniff them I get light headed.Sorry I was slow myself in responce but this was the youth turkey hunt weekend and I was calling birds for my 14 yr. old cousin.
Chris
Chris
MedPretzel
Senior Member
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2004
- Messages
- 2,239
- Reaction score
- 10
If it's that strong, then I would consider your 1 quart option....
But I would still pick as many as I could and try it maybe later in the summer, once you can tell in which direction this Jasmine is going in... You can always tweak the recipe that you created for the one you make now.
But I would still pick as many as I could and try it maybe later in the summer, once you can tell in which direction this Jasmine is going in... You can always tweak the recipe that you created for the one you make now.
