Hey guys, I'm brand new to mead making and am fixing to start my first batch here in a couple of days. I'm going to start with a cyser. I'm using regular apple juice instead of cider and am wondering what types of spices I should add in, other than cinnamon and cloves, if any?
Brand new, need help
- Thread starter jjpat1996
- Start date
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Hi JJ,
Welcome to GotMead!!
Spices are a wide open topic. It really comes down to personal preference, but generally less is more. Go light with the spices as you can easily over-do it. Remember you can always add more, but you can't easily take it back out. A bit of cinnamon and clove can work well with a cyser.
Also, check your apple juice to make sure it doesn't have preservatives that will inhibit the yeast.
If you post up what you are planning for a recipe I'm sure folks here can help to make sure you get off to a good start.
-Medsen
Welcome to GotMead!!
Spices are a wide open topic. It really comes down to personal preference, but generally less is more. Go light with the spices as you can easily over-do it. Remember you can always add more, but you can't easily take it back out. A bit of cinnamon and clove can work well with a cyser.
Also, check your apple juice to make sure it doesn't have preservatives that will inhibit the yeast.
If you post up what you are planning for a recipe I'm sure folks here can help to make sure you get off to a good start.
-Medsen
Hiya jjpat1996 - and welcome, If you have good quality apple juice and you have an interesting tasting honey then I am not sure that your cyser NEEDS any spices. However, if you mix the honey with the juice and you ferment this must then you can taste the result and decide then whether your cyser needs something to improve or change the flavor. You can then add spices to the secondary and so be in a better position a) to extract the flavor - the alcohol being able to extract flavors more effectively than water (the must) and b) to extract the spices when the alcohol has extracted as much (or as little ) of the flavor as you are looking for. Adding spices to the primary makes it a little more difficult for you to remove the mead from the spices or the spices from the mead in a timely manner.
In terms of what spices, the options are limited only by your imagination. However, some spices seem to play very nicely with apples. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice have a warm spicy flavor that seems to counterbalance tart and sweet flavors well. I'd also imagine that toasted oak and apples would play well together.
Along the lines of what has already been suggested, I might recommend making a large batch without spices first. Then divide the results as you wish into separate smaller containers, and experiment. Put spices in a clean sterilized mesh bag, and steep. Taste regularly until the level of spice notes is where you want it. Then remove. The benefit is variety, learning to taste subtlety, and if you make something you don't like, you haven't made a whole batch of it!
Take good notes throughout, and enlist the help of other tasters to give you feedback, and record their impressions as well.
Good luck!
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
Take good notes throughout, and enlist the help of other tasters to give you feedback, and record their impressions as well.
Good luck!
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
