Ivan tea (fermentation of fireweed leaves) - master class

[Anastasia]

Anastasia, thanks for the detailed answer: rose: I realized that we need delicate leaves for this tea. We will grow. And I liked the kneading. Already made a large leaf fermentation for 14 hours and 31 hours. I like it very much, I don’t know my taste yet, it is dried in pillowcases. But tomorrow I will still test. And the one that the other day made 15 hours of fermentation using the same technology began to smell sweet in a jar (you can't find another word) strawberries.

I decided to show off. I have already prepared 11 liters of large leaf tea. Large three-liter cans. But it is impossible to stop.

[niamka]

I have already prepared 11 liters of large leaf tea. Large three-liter cans. But it is impossible to stop.

niamka, you thought of it well - to pack tea in canisters! The main thing is that a lot will come in! Well done, already done a lot!
Now seek the darkness for this wealth.

I tried it today. unusual and unusual ...... until I realized a little whether I like it or not ..... the taste is herbal, but not bitter!
I will wait 2 months.

[Ludmila]

Ludmila, She evicted the pans from the cabinet, put the jars of tea. Compared today tea 31 hours of fermentation and 14 hours. When brewed, they do not differ in color. And in taste, indeed, as the recipe says, there are differences. I think that in a month these differences will be even more noticeable. I liked both options.

[niamka]

niamka, what is your tea taste?

[niamka]

niamka, this is a blank!
do you have all loose leaf tea?
Once again my meat grinder flew. I twisted it with my hands, but I like the sheet one, I just feel sorry for the meat grinder)). You have such black-black tea - which one is blacker - with a longer fermentation?
Me this year, too, with an initiative - my first "harvest 2015" is on fermentation

[Kokoschka]

Kokoschka, deeply fermented tea tastes like regular black tea, a little astringent, almost no aroma. A medium fermentation is softer in taste, with a light fruity aroma.
Mary Poppins, congratulations on the start of tea making This is such an exciting experience! I made the tea large-leaf, now it is fermented, rolled into rolls, it will be small-leaf, it is more convenient to mix it with berries and flowers. I have a manual meat grinder, Soviet times, nothing turns. Therefore, I make a sheet, but I honestly like it better. The tea is really black, the same color with both deep and medium fermentation. In a brewed form, it is also indistinguishable, only in taste. When brewed, the leaves unfold and turn greenish.

[Kokoschka]

I tried it today. unusual and unusual ...... until I realized a little whether I like it or not ..... the taste is herbal, but not bitter! I will wait 2 months.

Kokoschka, of course, it will not look like the tea we are used to, but it should not have the taste of grass either! Well, we have to wait. Or maybe figure out what and how was done in this tea? Maybe that was violated.

Me this year, too, with an initiative - my first "harvest 2015" is on fermentation

Mary Poppins, congratulations on the opening of the tea season! Come on, do a lot and delicious!

Compared today tea 31 hours of fermentation and 14 hours. When brewed, they do not differ in color. And in taste, indeed, as the recipe says, there are differences. I think that in a month these differences will be even more noticeable. I liked both options.

Natasha, well, you can already feel the difference in tea. That's right, you need to cook differently. Sometimes I myself do not understand which one I like better.

[Ludmila]

Ludmila, and I immediately brewed two different teas in glasses, so it was easier to understand the differences. But in general, the difference is small, noticeable for gourmets.

That's it, today the 3rd batch is ready. the meat grinder burned out on the second, but nothing can stop me and my husband! In the process, there are such delicious smells in the house ... in short, I became a real aroma addict))) By the way, I live in Estonia. in Estonian, Ivan-tea is called elk hemp)) And along the way a delicate, purely feminine question arose - if men are on the site, close your eyes!)) They say that if a woman has "women's days", then you cannot sour cabbage and salt cucumbers. But what about fermentation? Share who knows))

[lyka]

That's it, today the 3rd batch is ready. the meat grinder burned out on the second, but nothing can stop me and my husband!

lyka, congratulations on the successful opening of the season! May you have a lot of tea! And the meat grinders do not burn.

But what about fermentation? Share who knows))

The question is, of course, interesting! I have never bothered with cabbage and cucumbers about this. And I didn't even think about it when I was souring cabbage. And with tea too. Maybe someone else will answer?

you cannot sour cabbage and pickle cucumbers.

What nonsense !!!

shl. what a pleasure it is to collect fireweed !!! whack and the package is ready !!

shl. what a pleasure it is to collect fireweed !!! whack and the package is ready !!

Otherwise .... Not like in May! And not garden scent.

They say that if a woman has "women's days", then you cannot sour cabbage and pickle cucumbers.

I laugh ... Yes, indeed, during menstruation, women have a lot of prostaglandins. And they are released through the skin. Kneading with your hands can strangle the bacteria responsible for fermentation.
BUT ... the meat grinder does not have a period, as far as I know. Or?

[Radushka]

Radushka,

Girls! My husband and I did not have enough patience to wait for the flowering of the weed that we consider to be fireweed !!! Today I went to see - isn't it blooming? DOES NOT COLOR !!! Several bushes have buds. Well, very similar. In short, I picked more leaves. Withered and twisted with grapes. The rest were frozen.
And I decided to brew the tea that I made a month ago. It turned out that the brew was very strong. two teaspoons per glass is a lot. The result is a drink very similar to black tea. Both color and taste. And even knits the same way. Used as a tea leaves. Slightly sweetish, honey flavor. VERY NICE. The color is excellent. Fermentation lasted 36 hours.
Py. Sy. Isn't it Ivan-tea? When will it bloom ???

[Radushka]

Radushka, we already have pink buds, and yours should bloom long ago. But I think you have fireweed. Another flavor would not be honey-flavored.

[Radushka]

My husband and I did not have enough patience to wait for the flowering of the weed that we consider to be fireweed !!!

Radushka, take a picture of your weed, even on the phone. And we'll tell you whether it is fireweed or not.

[lappl1]

lappl1, thanks, I will definitely do a lot!
At the beginning of the process, my meat grinder broke down, but still decided to ferment the small amount that turned out. And again I realized - what a crazy aroma when drying tea

[Mary Poppins]

Mary Poppins, and you do without a meat grinder - large-leaf. If you haven't looked at the recipe for a long time, then take a look. I wrote another way. It turns out very good and beautiful tea. And relatively easy.

[niamka]

Lyudmila, I dropped in, but very sporadically, as questions came. Now I will read the new recipe more closely.
And I bought a mini-oven from your tip
A new and good grinder remains in the plans for next year

niamkaand thank you for your kind words.
I also really love leaf, and this year I planned to make more of it, but I also wanted granulated, I really like it with its strength of brewing. Apparently not destiny

[Ludmila]

Ludmila,

take a picture of your weed, even on the phone

I don't have a camera on my phone. And ... it does not bloom with us yet. I asked my friends on the Internet who have a lot of fireweed. They also do not bloom yet. We have a drought.And my grass is only on the edge of the forest. Shaded on one side. There are still many very small plants. And the leaves have not yet hardened. Quite rude only on those where the tops broke and the stepsons went to grow. I was confused by the information that the rhizome tastes sweet. I've tried it. There is no sweetness there. Spicy taste. The leaves smelled exactly the same when withering. Only with a sweet sensation.
And, in general, it's funny. I read the morphological features of narrow-leaved fireweed - the leaf edge is smooth or glandular-toothed.
The underside color is light green, gray-green or reddish. I wonder how the qualifiers write, if only during flowering it can really be identified?

[Radushka]

I don't have a camera on my phone.

Radushka, well, what can I do, wait ...

And, in general, it's funny. I read the morphological features of narrow-leaved fireweed - the edge of the leaf is smooth or glandular-toothed. The underside color is light green, gray-green or reddish. I wonder how the qualifiers write, if only during flowering it can really be identified?

Well, the determinants saw him blooming. Therefore, it is easier for them. By the way, yesterday I went to pick a couple of branches of fireweed, but next to the site, about 20 meters away. So, on these branches the leaves were with a red border. It's definitely fireweed, because I see him there every year. And he already picked up the pinky buds. But a little further, 50 meters from the site, the leaves are only green with a light green underside. I explain this by the fact that at 20 m from the site the grass is a continuous carpet, and the fireweed is always very low there - it is barely visible through this grass. And at 50 m every year in the spring, they burn the grass and there, near the fireweed, there is expanse - it grows like a solid wall.

[Ludmila]

Ludmila, that husband has already said that fireweed is not fireweed, but he really likes the tea that he made a month ago and he will drink it. Yesterday I rolled some unfrozen grass with grapes, and today I will twist ice cream and add some cherries there.

[Radushka]

That husband has already said that fireweed is not fireweed, but he really likes the tea that he made a month ago and he will drink it.

Radushka, let him drink to health! But I would like to know exactly what he drinks.

[Ludmila]

Ludmila, well, I won't give him any more until autumn. And our grass will bloom anyway

And our grass will bloom anyway

Where can she go? It will definitely bloom.

Yesterday my granddaughter typed fireweed leaves for me. I put it in a withering bath.

[Olga]

Olga, well done granddaughter! Now you need to stir up the leaves to evenly wilted. Good luck!

Already making a large sheet with a new method. My fireweed is twisted and the rolls are extremely difficult to twist, but by grinding the leaves it turns out better. Now I will be more attentive to the drying stage.

Yesterday I dried leaf deep fermentation for 34 hours and mixed with strawberries.

Yesterday I dried leaf deep fermentation for 34 hours and mixed with strawberries.

sheet - is it not cut?

sheet - is it not cut?

This is the one that we roll into rolls, and then we cut.

[Natalia]

Natalia,

This is the one that we roll into rolls, and then we cut.

And I am so hunting, namely, a whole sheet. Even a bit. While the top leaves are tender. I left a few until completely wilted, they wilted into such delicate tubes

And I am so hunting, namely, a whole sheet. Even a bit. While the top leaves are tender. I left a few until completely wilted, they wilted into such delicate tubes

And I missed this opportunity (to make Italian macho hair). I will grow young shoots on my plantation, I really want to make such tea. In the meantime, I have dried up from what is. In my opinion, crushing is easier than turning rolls

Girls, something I do not hear the aroma of honey, flowers in tea. When fermented, it smells like grass; when dried, it just smells like black tea. From the garden, when I do it, the aroma is amazing, but here I don't understand what's the matter. Withered for a day, fermented for 6 hours and (today) -12 hours.After fermentation, it is brown in color; when dried, it turns black. That year I did it in August (I hadn't seen the topic before), the aroma was floral, but not for the whole kitchen. Yes, I do granular, 7cm layer during fermentation, the temperature in the room is 25 degrees, I wrap it up. I dry first in the oven 150 degrees with a layer of 1 cm for about 1.5 hours, I dry it in the dryer. As they say, not the first year ... but something is not right. The withering may not be correct, but when wrinkling, only the upper leaves of the compressed lump straighten a little (I can take a lot of leaves), the central vein of especially large leaves sometimes comes across with a crunch, but very little, and if you wither longer, the leaf dries up, although when scrolling it is wet ... During fermentation, I also do not detect changes in odor depending on time. Maybe my nose does not react to fireweed
Now I began to dry "Macho", there is also no honey aroma, fermented for 15 hours

[natushka]

I dry first in the oven 150 degrees with a layer of 1 cm for about 1.5 hours

natushka, you just dry the tea! Why do you dry for 1.5 hours at 150 *?. Where did you see such a regime? This is a lot. Tea simply dries up and leaves any smell. Read in the recipe:

Sometimes I dry tea according to the method used by Chinese manufacturers for certain types of tea. This method is called "frying". To do this, at the beginning of drying, I set the temperature 125 - 150 * for 10 - 20 minutes... This temperature allows the sugars of the plant sap to caramelize on the top of the granule and to seal the rest of the sap inside. Then I dry the tea as described in the recipe. This method gives a light caramel aroma and flavor to the tea..

Have you read it? 10 - 15 minutes, but not 1.5 hours!!!!!
In general, do not sushi at this temperature at least a couple of parties. Try to set the temperature to 100 * at the beginning of drying, then lower it to 80, and then dry it at 50 - 60. And not until the very victorious end. If you dry it to an absolutely dry state, then there will be no smell. You need to leave it a little underdried, just a little, barely noticeable. Then cool and put in a pillowcase. And let it dry there to an absolutely dry state, to a dry rustling.
And further. Do you stir constantly while drying? Is the oven door ajar during drying? If not, then this may also be the cause of the loss of smell.

[niamka]

Yesterday I dried deep leaf fermentation for 34 hours and mixed with strawberries.

niamka, indescribable beauty ! Good girl! I love !

[niamka]

niamka,

In my opinion, crushing is easier than twisting rolls

So it seemed to me too. And then ... I didn't make so much tea that there is nowhere to store the whole leaf. Well, I won't do a lot of it, anyway

[Radushka]

I didn't make so much tea that there is nowhere to store the whole leaf. Well, I won't do a lot of it, anyway

Radushka, here I, too, despite its beauty, do not want to do much. Firstly, because of the occupied volume. And, secondly, I still like granular more.

: friends: yeess! I did it!
Day dried up, stirred three times. Through a meat grinder. The night stood, fermented. Then I put it in an ordinary, unpretentious dryer. Turned on and off - I always dry everything like that. Half an hour of work, half an hour of rest. How many times I've done this - I don't remember exactly, 5 times, maybe less ...
dried very quickly, then brewed it - I liked it. but set up an experiment for the sake of caramelizing for 6 minutes in a travolka. Photo later.

In short, just super!
Thanks again!

The husband ran and took more.

The smell in the house is just awesome!

[Ludmila]

Ludmila,

despite its beauty, I don't want to do much

I want my dad as a gift for DR. He will be 84 in December.

Why do you dry for 1.5 hours at 150

Luda, my oven shows at a minimum of 150 and is no longer exposed, although I freely stir up tea with my hand and grab the leaf with a very thin cloth (for order) - there is probably less. When I put it in the dryer, it is still pretty damp. And I heat up the oven - turn it off, etc. so it takes longer. ... After the dryer into a bag.I don’t even know, maybe it’s really overdrying, although the Village is so fragrant with the same manufacturing parameters. I'll try again to measure the temperature and change the time.

Do you stir constantly while drying? Is the oven door ajar during drying? If not, then this may also be the cause of the loss of smell.

I'm stirring, the door is ajar. Luda, and after fermentation before drying, is there a honey-floral smell or should it not be?

[Olga]

yeess! I did it

Olga, congratulations on your first tea! Well done ! I am very glad that everything worked out and I liked the tea!

set an experiment for the sake of caramelizing for 6 minutes in a herb. Photo later.

Olya, you need to put caramelize at the very beginning of drying... What is caramelized with us? Sugar juice. And it is on the granules only at the very beginning of drying. And at the end it is gone - it is dry. The tea may just dry out. Try the next time first and compare the result. It seems to me that you will like it even more.

Ol, on the contrary, first you need to fry at a high temperature, and then dry it at 80, and then at 60.
Natasha, there is a smell before drying, not necessarily honey-floral, whatever you catch, that is, how much you ferment.
Congratulations on your new tea!

Duplicated Luda.

[natushka]

Is there a honey-floral smell after fermentation before drying, or should it not be?

natushka, there is, according to it we are guided by how fermentation is going on! And during all the drying time, crazy flavor! Just crazy! It is impossible not to notice it. But there is one caveat. The top layer of granules covers the rest of the mass. And the smell weakens a little. if you pick it off a little, then a very strong smell comes from the inside. In general, try to ferment longer, at least 20 hours. Maybe you don't ferment it? But it's still strange. Immediately after twisting, it starts to smell strong.

[Luda]

niamka, indescribable beauty! Good girl! I love !

Luda, Thank you

So it seemed to me too. And then ... I didn't make so much tea that there is nowhere to store the whole leaf. Well, I won't do a lot of it, anyway

This is a controversial statement. The tea is so addicting that it is very difficult to stop when it comes out.

Duplicated Luda.

Lenusik, and that's good! You confirm my words! Thank you, honey, for helping with the answers!