Ivan tea (fermentation of fireweed leaves) - master class

[Barrabas]

Barrabas, Igor, I am very glad that the tea turned out to be fragrant. You will delight your loved ones with such a magical drink, into which you have invested so much effort, love and soul. And my sons only promise, I would have foliage, and I would make tea myself.

[lappl1]

lappl1, in this material definitely not, it is like gauze in general, only the cells are 5 times smaller and the threads are very thin ..
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I've twisted half of the bag that I stood on sweating for a day .. and I have a question; Is it possible to put the rest of the * sweaty raw materials * into the refrigerator, until tomorrow? or by all means knead the leaves now?
By the way, the sweaty raw spins 3 times easier than just dried up .. And the meat grinder (mouth) is clean, and yesterday it was so dirty from the dried up that it was inconvenient to watch)

[francevna]

Ah! And another question: I'm tight with glass jars, but a lot of tea will come out .. Can I just pour a clean cardboard box into a box to keep a month?
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francevna, for my relatives and do for the most part .. and treat friends. just a little bit for myself .. Curious to try

[Barrabas]

Barrabas, you can put it in the refrigerator if you ferment later. Nothing will happen to him. Or you can determine all the leaves in the freezer. and get it out as it is processed.

I’m tight with glass jars, but I’ll have a lot of tea .. Can I just put a clean cardboard box in a box to keep a month?

Oh, no need in the box ... the scent can go away. Better in plastic bags, and then in a box. But not in one package, but in several (one to one). Maybe there is cling film? Or foil?

[lappl1]

lappl1, already put it in the refrigerator. Thank you Lyudmila! )
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I have plastic buckets, like mayonnaise buckets .. Maybe there? They don't seem to stink at all ..

[Barrabas]

Barrabas, well, if the cucumbers were not fermented there, then you can. We store many tea in these. I would have tightly closed the lids for a day. And then she opened it and checked - is there a foreign smell?

[lappl1]

lappl1, Thank you! So I will. How nice the feeling of the shoulder
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but if that. then in a bag .. yeah ..

[Barrabas]

Barrabas, always ready to lend a shoulder! Good luck!

Have a good lunch, everyone, and have a great Sunday! ) The forum is quiet .. probably everyone is at the training camp ..
Well, for now, I'll share my Production of Bloopers:
- took a light air-permeable fabric honey. fabric → (in general, a piece of gauze folded 2-3 times would do, but gauze is a deficit for me ..
- I put it in a lump on the crumbled cloth →
- fold * twisting into a ball → here ↖ you must try to crush the lump sooooo tightly so that it is as dense as a stone, otherwise it will be very, very loose after drying. Do not be afraid to press it right down to juice, and then press it between the boards ..

- I press down with a board →
- treading on the board crushing a lump between two boards →
- got a blunder →
- to the rest of her! →
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now I'm drying: 15 minutes at 120, 15 minutes at 110, 15 minutes at 100, and then I will reduce to 50-60 and leave for three hours
then every day I will dry for three hours for 50 *
What do you think? Will the temperature be normal in your opinion?

Stunned! Here is our man's fantasy, what he can only invent! I join the chorus of congratulations on the first tea!

[Barrabas]

Barrabas, Igor, a real male experimenter appeared with us. Thank you very much, I admire your hard work.

[Barrabas]

Barrabas, Igor, and what is the thickness of the cakes? I read about pu-erh. It takes a long time to dry. But, there are big cakes.

[elena kadiewa]

thickness of cakes

2 - 2.5 cm .. they are small at all)
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elena kadiewa, francevna, thanks for sharing my joy from the process and the outcome)
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and here is the first result: the actual type of tea - thrown only three teaspoons and a tiny pea .. * teaspoon shallow, flat count *
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and the first infusion is in the cup, and the second one has just been poured to infuse .. -
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the taste is pleasant, there is a slight sourness, astringency, fruit and honey notes, notes of dried fruits and much more .. but so far I have not figured out completely .. In general, the sensations are pleasant)
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thank you all for the tips and guiding me on the right track! Thank you very much for the timely amendment about the fermentation layer!
I'm not going home empty-handed. and it pleases ))
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Fluffy is on fermentation .. Tomorrow I'll start drying))

I'm not going home empty-handed. and it pleases

And I'm sure all of us are also happy. I brew my teas according to the black principle. teaspoon per glass + 1 teaspoon per teapot (heaped spoons).
Photos are beautiful, tea was a success, apparently. Bon appetit and thanks for the company. Back home, don't forget about us

Igor, congratulations on your first tea!

[Barrabas]

Barrabas, I am delighted with tiled tea! What a fine fellow! If the leaves were normal, I would definitely try to do it! Class! I believe that the temperature regime has been selected correctly! I will now look forward to the outcome. When will it be? But it will be. He has nowhere to go. I will definitely link to the 1st page (later).
And the granulated tea looks great! You need to give him time for dry fermentation, then it will surprise even more.
Thank you very much for your experimentation and enthusiasm. Very contagious! Bravo!

[Barrabas]

Barrabas, Igor, wonderful tea turned out. Thanks for the photo, description and reviews. Enjoy your tea and make your loved ones happy.

and friends came to us yesterday, well, I asked them whether to surprise them with tea ... They agreed, so we drank for the first time yesterday))) Really great smell, and taste is soft! They told me later that they are killed in different varieties, but they have not tried this one yet.
I dry "fluffy" tea, I tell my relatives that they now owe me exactly 2 thousand

that they now exactly 2 thousand owe me

[cerea]

cerea, right, and on whom else to check tea? By the way, and not for 2000, but more ... You have manual work!

Oh thanks for the words, girls But to be honest, my stock of this and your message pens here typing the case
Bow!)
I'll go dry the sweaty day and day fermented .. Let's see what kind of fruit ..
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(If anything, then all the tools that were in the dry-heat room, in sterilized kraft bags and wrapped in a sterile sheet, lie calmly in the closet .. So my tea-making will not be reflected in the shift medicine ;-))
In addition, we use them once a year when it comes ... And I haven't sinned lately ;-)
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Truncated .. Popeh I dry-conjure))

[Barrabas]

Barrabas, just in time you wrote about the tools. And then I already began to worry about the health of cooks and other hard workers ... Well, go sushi, and then you will tell us what happened.

[Barrabas]

Barrabas,

The Isidri dryer is crying for your cakes))).

[Scarecrow]

Scarecrow, yes, I thought too. But where can she get on watch?

[lappl1]

lappl1,

Yes, and not on watch, she is godlessly)).

[Nata]

Nata, although I'm not on duty, I'm happy with the cheap Veterkom. Although, of course, I would love to acquire Isidri.

I don't want to spawn a topic, but I really want to write about some of the oddities of the tea sweating before fermentation .. (and then and then 24 hours ..)
At first I dried it as expected - I watched everything went well, but after 20 minutes of the process at 100 t closed the door * completely automatically * and walked away for 10 minutes ..
Returned, opened hospadi, steam! but not very much, apparently came on time, but all the steam!
I pulled it out and blew it even, and at 85 * with a well-open door .. At first the smell was incredible. almost disappeared at the end of drying ..
Dried it out and rather, worried, brewed it. There is no smell in the cup either .. But the taste! The taste is tart with sourness, velvety! Straight for me!
I don’t know if this is from sweating and prolonged fermentation, or from the fact that I almost ruined it with steam ..But now I drink, and I will drink with pleasure! )
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all good dreams! )

Igor, good morning! Nothing bad happened to the tea. It will be slightly different in aroma, and how the tea is infused will be a divine drink.

[Barrabas]

I don’t want to breed a topic, but I really want to write about some of the oddities of the tea sweating before fermentation .. (and then and then 24 hours ..)

Barrabas, the theme is just created in order to produce and multiply it. I have the same opinion about the sweaty tea. I did it several times, then I stopped. But you had no choice. 16 kg of leaves are difficult to process immediately, so it was a good yield. Moreover, the taste suits you. yes, and as Alla rightly noted, tea will still show itself.

I don’t know if this is from sweating and prolonged fermentation, or from the fact that I almost screwed it up with steam .. But I drink, and I will drink with pleasure! )

From both factors.

At first the smell was incredible. almost disappeared at the end of drying ..

Dried tea is almost odorless. If it smells right after drying, then it is not dried sufficiently and may become moldy during storage. This is then, on dry fermentation, he fills up the smell. So that's okay.

Came back, opened hospadi, steam!

This is quite normal - you "dry" the product, that is, remove excess moisture - this is exactly the absence of what you call steam and will speak of complete drying of the tea.
And it would be more correct to call this process "evaporation" - so do not be alarmed - everything is fine!

[Barrabas]

Barrabas, I liked your cakes, I will follow them with you.
Nastya, well written, thanks.

not so long ago, about a month ago, I made tea from young leaves of fireweed and tops without flowers. after the tea was dried, a strong aroma reigned in the house. it was a real musky scent. of course the aroma of honey and flowers was also present, but musk cannot be confused with anything. I thought that maybe I did something wrong, or maybe wild boars or roe deer marked this territory with Ivan tea ... well, everything came to mind. in short, I did not throw this tea away, but put it away to see what would happen to it next.
and just recently I again came across this clearing with fireweed, there again young tops grew. I dialed them again and made tea again. and again it had a musky scent. what's the matter? On the Internet, I found information about plant-based musk that some plants accumulate, for example, hibiscus seeds, angelica roots.
I have not made tea from young tops before and have not encountered such a smell. dear tea-makers, what can it be?

[tapioca]

tapioca, Tatyana, an interesting twist ... I can tell you nothing about this. Maybe what went wrong during the tea making process? Maybe the leaves are badly withered, maybe the temperature is not the same or the time. After all, what is fermentation? It is a process that involves enzymes working. First, one enzyme is turned on. After a while, the other comes to replace the first. Etc. Therefore, we catch the floral-honey aroma so that all the enzymes work. But if the conditions of fermentation are violated, then the chain breaks off at some enzyme and fermentation ends or everything goes completely wrong.
How did you make the tea at each stage? It is necessary to look for the reason not in wild boars and roe deer, but in the process of making tea and conditions.

I prepared the same way as tea from ordinary leaves. I always collected only leaves from the middle of the bush, and then I decided to try the difference and the difference is, I always cook the same way. and therefore the result with musk was repeated a second time.
the leaves wither well. then I wrinkle, roll into rolls and cut. a lot of juice is released, as I wrinkle diligently. during fermentation, the mass heats up by itself. I ferment overnight and half a day.then I dry it at 100 grams for half an hour and subtract it by 50. there is aroma when drying. before, when drying, there was no strong aroma. I somehow wrote on this topic. but then I realized what my reason was. I didn't crush the leaves enough. began to crumple more vigorously, so that it chomped and aroma appeared during drying. so when I made from the leaves from the middle of the bush, no musk ... but from the tops of the unique ambergris, I can't understand it good or bad? maybe this is some kind of special tea? like dear, smelly like pu-erh, maybe it's only such tea from this meadow, I didn't have the opportunity to find another place and compare .... why can't the boars be blamed? We have a lot of them, they even play pranks in the gardens, maybe they nailed Ivan's tea?

Now I opened a can of past tea that had a musky smell. It's been three weeks since I made it. Alas, the smell of musk is gone. The usual honey-floral smell. So there won't be any special tea ...

[tapioca]

so when I made from the leaves from the middle of the bush, no musk ... and from the tops a unique ambergris

tapioca, Tatyana, everything seems to be correct. And I recently posted a separate recipe - "Ivan white-pink tea from the tops." Check out my profile. I made only of them. The tea is really special. But great. Maybe we perceive smells differently? Or we call them differently. But you have everything straightened out. I think this tea will delight you again.

hi guys)) as always in my style))
question arises, does anyone dry tea in a dryer? (dryer for mushrooms, fruits, etc.)
Is it an electric dryer or what?
and interested in the taste of the resulting tea))
thanks, I am very interested in this question)

[Misha]

Misha, half of the forum dries. I personally first fry it in the oven, and then transfer it to Veterok-2. T-50-55 * S. Great tea.

[Wozik]

Wozik, many to dry in the dryer. Fits well, dry without frying. Oooh already answered Lina.

thank you hostess)
I just think the dryer is more convenient
what temperature do you choose there? without frying if
I would like to completely exclude the oven from the process
Thank you

[Wozik]

Wozik, Misha, hello! Long time no see.
I dried my first teas several times only in the dryer. But it burned out from him because of the thick layers. Husband repaired but burned out again. Therefore, I began to dry in the oven. And I liked this one more - with a fry. Although, according to the new recipes, I dried tea in the dryer. They turned out very good. But there were no leaves - boxes and tops with buds. Try it, maybe you will like it.

what temperature do you choose there?

In the last teas, I exhibited both 50 * and 60 *.

this year I probably won't be big)
People, what kind of dryer did you have (how did you dry it, there are different ways)
50 \ 60 * is not enough for this tea? I would put 90 .. if there is one there I do not know ..

[Misha]

Misha, I have a Veterok. Maximum - 70 *. I know that in others it is not higher, even in Isidri. I do not exhibit the maximum in my own, as she begins to be capricious and burn. The highest that it allows is 65 *.
I know that tea producers on an industrial scale are 30 *, 45 *, and 60 * dry. So, it will if you want to make this tea.

[Wozik]

Wozik, Misha, in 2014. loose leaf tea was dried in Isidri, where the temperature is from 65 to 35. The tea is light, like green, but tasty and aromatic.

badly
I like black tea, straight black

Here is a topic about Ivan tea, and I used to dry the garden.
Yesterday I dried it in a pan, the moisture evaporates very quickly, faster than in the oven, I dried it in the dryer. I am pleased with the result, the color is dark, the aroma is pleasant.

Can't get black in the dryer? interested in it)

I think the dark color comes from the high temperature.

[Misha]

bad, I like black tea, straight black

Misha, go to these threads
- Ivan-tea "White-pink" (from the tops);
- Ivan-tea "Fluffy" (from immature seed bolls);
And you will see what I was drying in the dryer and what kind of tea I got. Black, it's never blacker.