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five spice mead

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mts198

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May 4, 2009
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For my first mead i'm trying a five spice mead which is (cassia buds, ginger, star anise, nutmeg, and cloves) often used in asian cooking, and it tastes great in cookies. Well it smelt and tasted great when I mixed it up, and a few days of fermenting it smells even better. The cassia buds (i'm assuming it's actually cinnamon since it's a generic brand).
Well...any suggestions comments are welcome.

Here's what I have so far

5 pounds clove honey
1.5 teaspoons five spice
2 gallons spring water
1 pack red star cuvee
2 teaspoon yeast nutrient
1 teaspoon yeast energizer

SG 1.073
Day 3 1.059
Day 4 1.049
Day 5 1.035 (Isoamyl acetate - faint banana smells taking over the strong clove and cinnamon notes)
Day 6 1.023 foaming a little bit

Ending SG guess about 1.000
 
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I've tried something similar to this and noticed that as it aged I've lost most of the spices behind the star anise, not bad, just a little disappointing. When young it was nicely complex and surprised quiet a few people...
 
skunkboy said:
I've tried something similar to this and noticed that as it aged I've lost most of the spices behind the star anise, not bad, just a little disappointing. When young it was nicely complex and surprised quiet a few people...
Click to expand...

interesting, I'll keep that in mind. How long did you allow it to age? I'm a big fan of star anise so it might not be a problem.
 
day 4 1.049 The heat coming off it is pretty intese and it's turning like crazy i'm going to try and cool it off a little. The red star cevee is really doing it's job i guess. At this rate it's going to be bone dry
 
mts198 said:
interesting, I'll keep that in mind. How long did you allow it to age? I'm a big fan of star anise so it might not be a problem.
Click to expand...

I started mine in 4.23.2006, bottled it in 1.8.2007, and the last bottle I opened as in the
middle of 2008.

For comparison purposes it was a 1 gallon batch, 2.85 lbs of honey, 1 1/2 tsp 5 spice powder, k1-v1116.
 
I'm a spice freak! BUT when I formulate a recipe, I have to look at what I'd like to find in a meal prepared with those spices.

I enjoy Chinese cooking. More than a "pinch" of Five Spice is just too overpowering for me though. I can enjoy bigger proportions of each of the individual spices but the overall combination of all the blends I've tried so far just blows my palate to where nothing is enjoyable. I'd rather eat the noodles!

But, that is just my palate. People call my Ginger Meth over the top. So I do understand excess. But Five Spice to me is better broken down into the particular components of those five spices that really trip your trigger.

When I taste Five Spice, I also want some "heat" to balance it (and some sweetness too). I think it would be an awesome ingredient in a capiscamel but I'd rather see it as a complement rather than a front row seat.

Which of the flavors of the Five Spice is the one you really want to drink?
 
wildaho said:
I'm a spice freak! BUT when I formulate a recipe, I have to look at what I'd like to find in a meal prepared with those spices.

I enjoy Chinese cooking. More than a "pinch" of Five Spice is just too overpowering for me though. I can enjoy bigger proportions of each of the individual spices but the overall combination of all the blends I've tried so far just blows my palate to where nothing is enjoyable. I'd rather eat the noodles!

But, that is just my palate. People call my Ginger Meth over the top. So I do understand excess. But Five Spice to me is better broken down into the particular components of those five spices that really trip your trigger.

When I taste Five Spice, I also want some "heat" to balance it (and some sweetness too). I think it would be an awesome ingredient in a capiscamel but I'd rather see it as a complement rather than a front row seat.

Which of the flavors of the Five Spice is the one you really want to drink?
Click to expand...

I really like the combination of all the spices together but if i have to pick just one it would be star anise. I use the five spice in a molasses and honey cookie recipe that I love. I figured it would go well with mead (without the molasses), I'll taste it in about 2 weeks before I transfer to see how it's coming along- it is my first mead so i'm trying to document everything.

capoeirista13 - It's five spices in a special combination typically used in Chinese cooking. But they can vary in combination and ingredients according to brand name. Mine has cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves
 
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