Ivan tea (fermentation of fireweed leaves) - master class

Tibulus, Daria! Try drying in plastic bags. We stuff it tightly, release the air and tie it onto a strong knot. We cover the bags with a cloth from sunlight. I always do this if the collected mass is dry and there is no need to remove excess moisture.

No matter how you call this process, it is not drying. This is already a full-fledged primary oxygen-free fermentation. You can dry it in fabric by rolling it tightly into a roll.
I also do this in bags, BUT only after true withering, and even freezers (after drying). And before placing in the freezer, I knead the foliage well as in preparation for obtaining leaf tea.

Tibulus, Daria. I propose in this way to wither the sheet for further processing and retain moisture. If the leaf is dry, then I cannot roll it into rolls, they fall apart. And when scrolling in a meat grinder, the poop falls apart.

Good day everyone. I came to consult. Ivan grinded tea in a meat grinder. I couldn't dry it for a long time. It was roasted for an hour and dried for 3 hours. Pulled dry on the table on the back. Arrived after 5 days. dried well, but the color did not turn brown, remained greenish. I'm more used to brown. You can put it in the oven again. Mix with new brown? This has never happened. There was a time to stand in the oven for a long time.

Toasting dry tea again will degrade the taste. The tea will char.

[lily_a]

lily_a, Thank you

Hello!
For the 2nd year now I have been preparing tea, but never once after twisting the leaves during fermentation there was no aroma at all.

First of all, do not use the freezer for withering - the tea will not taste good.

Now how I do it now:
1. Wither (not wither crumbled during processing)
2. I curl the fox with my hands or knead like dough.
3. Lay with a layer of no more than 5 cm and cover with a thick and damp cloth

I did everything I did, put it under the ceiling, put it on a heating pad, wrap it up, I never saw them ferment so that the aroma was felt.
Moreover, if you keep them for more than 24 hours, they already begin to smell a little acid well, and no more.

4. I felt the aroma only when I transported the leaves for processing from unsealed plastic bags, but there was no juice from them.

As a result, the tea has no taste, at least the way I was allowed to taste.
Unfortunately, I never liked the purchased Ivan-tea either, sometimes it was simply impossible to drink.

The temperature in the room is at least 20 degrees, but certainly not 15 or 18
So how do you get the fermentation right?

4. I felt the aroma only when I transported the leaves for processing from in plastic unsealed bags

Likewise, the scent of perfume is intoxicating!

did not see them fermented so that the aroma was felt.

Yeah, he is, but not the one that many describe with delight.

Unfortunately, I never liked the purchased Ivan-tea either, sometimes it was simply impossible to drink.

I have also tried several large producers - naked silage, both in taste and smell. This sour product can hardly be called tea, unless you dream up

[Citizen]

Citizen,

Try drying in plastic bags. We stuff it tightly, release the air and tie it onto a strong knot. We cover the bags with a cloth from sunlight. I always do this if the collected mass is dry and there is no need to remove excess moisture.

Thanks for the advice.Do I understand correctly that after that you can scroll in a meat grinder? And determine the end of the process, as in drying - to break the veins and the disintegration of the compressed lump? Does the fermentation take a long time after that, or, on the contrary, accelerates?



Yuri K,

This is a complete primary oxygen-free fermentation.

Exactly, there is already fermentation, but I don’t understand - is it good or what? This is not the first time I've read about primary oxygen-free, but I don't understand at all - how does it fit with the rest of the process described in the recipe?

I also do this in bags, BUT only after true drying, and even freezing (after drying). And before placing in the freezer, I knead the foliage well as in preparation for obtaining leaf tea.

How long does the primary oxygen-free fermentation take in this case? And what are you doing next? By the way, why do you knead first, and then freeze? After all, freezing is usually recommended for easier mixing? Is this also some kind of alchemy?

Tibulus, Daria! Yes, you understood correctly, after withering in packages (when it is 12-24 hours) (the last time I collected a leaf in sunny weather, and it turned out to be almost sluggish at home, so 12 hours were enough in the packages), and so, he ready for further processing and into rolls and a meat grinder. Fermentation of rolls in a square polyethylene bucket with a layer of 20-25 cm takes 2-3 days (it was like 4 days, while the last 2 layers were caramelized in juice like caramels and when cut into washers were dense like corks). This year, for the fifth portion of raw materials, I process and the process of fermentation of rolls with a layer of 10 cm - 2 days, and a layer of 5-7 cm twisted in a meat grinder - 1 day. Maybe this is an abnormal year? And the raw materials smell differently, not like in previous years. By the way, the tea in May (well, the collection was in June) turned out to be wonderful, both leafy and granulated. Leafy smells differently from each jar. ?

[Citizen]

Citizen,

Fermentation of rolls in a square polyethylene bucket with a layer of 20-25 cm takes 2-3 days (it was like 4 days.

It is clear, wow, how long! Is this just this year, and not as a rule? It is very interesting that the "caramel" will turn out. My cans also have different smells - well, there is a reason: somewhere in different ways, moose farms, somewhere drying in different modes ...

I constantly do everything written below with teas from the leaves of different plants, but for the first time I did the fireweed using these algorithms,

I don’t understand at all - how does this fit with the rest of the process described in the recipe?

The amount of time for the main fermentation is significantly reduced.

How long does the primary oxygen-free fermentation take in this case?

Every time after the defrost cycle, I put on top 1, -2.5 or even 3 hours. As a result, I have almost fermented.

By the way, why do you first knead and then freeze?

I do it according to my algorithms, in this case there is a mechanical destruction of the leaf cells, but the freezer completes the process, moreover, freezing the excess moisture outward (into a bag).

freezing is usually recommended for easier mixing

It is used for easier granulation in a meat grinder. But also for the acquisition of many types of leaves of a "noble" tea (black) color in the brewing of future tea. I also use it to equalize the total moisture between over-dried leaves and normally dried leaves (condensation process during defrosting).

And tell me more, please, how does one orientate to smell during fermentation? I initially do not have herbal, immediately and all the time it smells delightfully fruity, and then very quickly - even more spicy, pear. This is normal? Maybe this is a sign that the fermentation should be very short, and I overexpose all the time?

How do you get aroma during fermentation?
Can someone answer my questions (page 246)?
And yet, last year's tea, and not only if you close it in a glass jar with a plastic lid, then when you open it there will be a sharp smell, reminiscent of a little alcohol, very unpleasant and not fruity, why?
Slightly fruity aroma felt when the jar was open.
But mostly during fermentation, I never felt a fruity aroma, so I'm not doing this, help me understand ...

on page 211 the question of the flat stem of fireweed was discussed. Today I met a whole large group of such plants.

Explicitly mutation

This season, a slightly deformed and flattened stalk was caught. Last season, outside Valdai, when collecting tea along a clearing under the high-voltage, there were a lot of flat stems, they stood like sabers. The tea, by the way, turned out to be unsuccessful from raw materials collected near Valdai, in the Valdai Eco Club.

I'm a little cultured shock, I need your help! A familiar photographer sent me such a picture, I think it makes no sense to describe, now I'm trying to find out where such a sea of ​​happiness is. But there are also doubts, the height is too low for a fireweed, is it really him ???

[Yuri K]

Yuri K, yes, it's fireweed!

[Yuri K]

Yuri K, in Len. region there are such fields, we saw them, but those that we saw, they are along the tracks, so we don’t collect

[Creamy]

Creamy, simply unthinkable .... I have never seen this! I'm waiting for my fellow countryman to answer and give out the coordinates



Mandraik Ludmila, in our country, within 180-200 km, recently only a clearing was shown about the size of a school class. And this is clearly more than 200 km (Bashkiria, apparently)

[Yuri K]

Yuri K, well, we have meadows of fireweed right next to the house, but there are fields along the highways, in particular along the St. Petersburg-Pskov highway, in the Gatchina region. I know for sure that there is not a small field (2 hectares) in the area of ​​the Oredezh River, next to the summer cottage village of Porozhek, friends have a dacha there, but there is a need for a boat to swim across, well, or swim by ourselves It's clean, just dachas between the road and Oredezh but not easily accessible. And we, fortunately, have enough of our own

[Mandraik Ludmila]

Mandraik Ludmila, happy for you!

Can someone answer my questions (page 246)?

I only noticed one question there: "how to achieve the correct fermentation" .. - therefore, I will tell you further, and thus I will answer - how I personally manage to achieve fermentation .. But, there are small BUT .....
.
So, if from the very beginning, about my case, then I prepared Ivan-Tea at first I languidly, and twisting them in a basin with my fists only in my first experiments with Fireweed .. The result I personally got with exactly that batch of tea only a year later, when I just pulled it out before throwing it away, but after smelling it, and being surprised by the magical honey smell, deciding to brew and try it, I experienced an aesthetic ecstasy, and count it nothing ...
.
* BUT, I would immediately describe this experience, if this experience were not so thorny .. it was not for nothing that I was going to throw it out .. *
.
And he was going to throw it out because there was already something to compare with, namely with the main lots of the resulting tea;
which I lovingly tear for hours in lousy places into large packages, after the way home, opening which, I smell that the leaf has already puffed up * honey spicy aroma *, but in spite of everything I spread on the sheets laid on the floor, the same, still green, warm leaves, not so elastic, but still so vigorous that my tongue does not turn to call them withered, and I leave them to wither until the leaves, grasped in a fist, will not be briskly unbend anymore, (they will become languid)
Then, for an average of 6 hours, I pass these same leaves through a manual Sovdep meat grinder with my own hands.
*** the same from above "BUT" .. yeah, not with my hands I wrinkle .. *** because I strive to achieve a more complete destruction of leaf cells for subsequent fermentation ..
It turns out 2 five-liter buckets of pressed rolled tea. Pressed because I PRESS with my palms every time I throw in a bowl of a rolled sheet from under a meat grinder .. Here attention: I poured out a bowl - I pressed it ..half-strength, NOT leaning, covered the bucket with a damp rag, and continue to twist ..
I immediately wrap the bucket with a towel and a blanket, it's on the couch .. * always *
Well, after finishing, I wrap the bucket with the top with a blanket completely, leaving a fairly damp, clean cloth on top, covering it with a round cutting board * so that moisture from the fabric does not evaporate * for about 18-20 hours .. at room temperature in summer 24 .. IMPORTANT FOR FERMENTATION is not so much external heat, but rather that the heat generated by OWN fermentation process does not disappear ..
And after these 18-20 hours, I throw the raw material * smelling EXACTLY SPICY-ACID on a baking sheet of the oven under t 150-170 * C for 10 minutes, with the door ajar 2-3 cm .. Then I stir * to fry the raw material on the other side * and again send it to fry for 8-10 minutes .. After that I stir it again, set it to 100 * C in the oven, and leave it there to dry for about 40 minutes with periodic stirring every 10-15 minutes .. And how I feel that the raw material is almost dry - I set it to 50 * C in the oven and leave it for 30 minutes.
The output is no longer raw materials, but a real, granular, usually very fragrant TEA. Yes, * FISH SMELL .. you sniff First: it’s not fishy .. in fact it is mineral, caramel, herbal, and apple-iron .. but what are you not fishy? And then, when did he interfere with whom? Does it remain when brewing? Well, no. And after half a year of storage, it ALWAYS changes to pure caramel-fruit-apple.
Well, from the oven I dry dry in a gauze bag for a day, and I roll up 3-liter cans with parchment paper .. 2.5 cans at the exit are usually .. I drink with my family all year round. and we treat our friends .. Someone asks to buy later, but no matter how I am concerned about business, I just treat you with another 0.5 jar just like that))
.
But I'll write about leaf tea twisted in a basin with my hands .. Now I am too lazy, and you probably read it .. By the way, we make pancakes from it * Puerovskie * as a keepsake .. with dating and store on the sideboard .. But this is something else tea-fano-delie))
All successful blanks!

A familiar photographer sent me such a picture, I think it makes no sense to describe, now I'm trying to find out where such a sea of ​​happiness is.

In our Tyumen region, you can also find such fields

[Yuri K]

Yuri K, it's just heaven !!! this is Bashkiria, right?

dear tea-makers! I want to consult with experts about "double fermentation". On our website, I found only the idea that the primary fermentation is either in a plastic bag in the sun (especially if it is dry), or when withering in a thick layer (and this is bad), and after a meat grinder before drying - secondary fermentation. I didn't quite understand if this is good ...

In the vastness of the Internet, double fermentation tea is offered. It looks like it is being dried, twisted on a large grinder, it costs several hours, then twisted into a fine one, it costs a little more. It turns out, according to the description, very strong and rich.

What is the point of interrupting fermentation with a second meat grinder?

Has anyone tried this? or these "dances with tambourines" are not worth the result? what thoughts does anyone have?

[OlgaWing]

OlgaWing, Olga, after fermentation, I scroll through a fine grate so that the granules are dense and dry immediately. But I do it from the leaves of garden plants.

[No need to wash the leaves]

Good evening. Or I can put in my five cents. Recently I ran into your forum dedicated to Ivan-tea and read almost the entire forum with interest. I have been making tea myself for three years, and even thinking about opening a small production. Because there are opportunities and desire for this.
I have tried many different ways of making this drink. There were many failures, but in the end I chose the most acceptable option both for the efforts invested and, most importantly, for the results obtained.
I chose the "leaven" option in 2 or 3 liter jars. It makes no sense to describe the whole process, it has been described more than once. I just want to describe the rules that I have deduced for myself. So:
1. No need to wash the leaves (it is good enough to clear the crop from the bugs and spiders), and harvest away from the roads.
2. It is advisable to collect the leaves only those with pink streak in the middle, not white.
3. NO metal objects when preparing raw materials. I even have a ceramic knife for cutting.
4. Fermenting by the hour does not make sense. There are a lot of components. Harvest time. Gathering place. Temperature. How much dried leaf, etc. I determine the end of fermentation by the drunken pear aroma and the color of the leaf. The color of the finished leaf turns olive.
5. If the house is cold (given this summer) - spreading a heating pad, put jars on it and wrap it with blankets. Voila!
6. At the time of fermentation, it is necessary to achieve minimum oxygen ingress into the container where the magic happens.
7. Necessarily oppression. The leaf should be in its own juice. When I take out the leaves after fermentation, the smell is such that you can get drunk from the aroma. The brine is a little sticky, like liquid honey. In cans, slightly crumpled leaves, I tamp with a wooden spatula, and when I reach the neck, I tamp ordinary bags into the can until filling. And a lid on top.
8. You need to knead from the heart... To the state of thin sausages.
9. Temperature during drying, no more than 70 degrees... It is better to stir the mass more often.
10. Do not be discouraged if you decide to taste the tea immediately after drying and see a cloudy brew. Tea needs to be infused not less than two or three weeks. The aroma, by the way, will definitely intensify.
11. I never I don't blend for long-term storage. If you want to add oregano or zest, add to the teapot. Don't spoil your mother's fee.
12. Do not be lazy after finally dried tea, stir up the mass twice a day for a week. From one underdried particle, mold will cover the entire crop. Checked.
13. Wash your hands every time you go to work with tea. It absorbs all the smells with a bang! Perfume, hand cream, orange scent, etc. are absorbed lightly.
I would be glad if my rules help someone. I do not insist on doing this. It's just my experience. I will be happy to answer your questions. Sincerely.
, ,

By the way, we make pancakes from it * Puerovskie * for memory .. with dating and store on the sideboard .. But this is still a tea-fano-delie))

I would like to know the details)))

After fermentation, I scroll through a fine grate so that the granules are dense and dry immediately. But I do it from the leaves of garden plants.

I also do this, following Alla's advice,
and fireweed along with other leaves
Very happy, thank you, Allochka

It is advisable to collect leaves only those with a pink vein in the middle, and not with a white one.

never paid attention to it
it became interesting, what is the difference?

[space]

space, Lidochka, I am very glad that my work was useful.

never paid attention to it
it became interesting, what is the difference?

Please note that a plant with a pink-red stem at the very bottom, near the ground, has leaves as a rule healthy, plump, not pitted and without yellow spots. You don't always look at the stem below - the grass, it's easier to look at the vein of the leaf. It is believed that this is a stronger and healthier plant, and therefore the quality of the raw materials is excellent. Although ... It is natural to run around and look for only pink veins, this is not entirely optimal. But if possible, I take first of all a sheet with the indicated vein.

Yuri K, this is just heaven !!! this is Bashkiria, right?

Lights out, it's very far away, Chelyabinsk region

[Yuri K]

Yuri K,: girl-swoon: yeah, you just have to admire!

[Yuri K]

Yuri K, I have a group Ivan-Chai — storeroom # 1, this is Yandar tea from Mari — El.
They were featured on the Rossiya1 channel in local news today
Show their production, very interesting to see.
I think you can just make a request for a video.

And around the village I have these fields of Ivan-tea:







I filmed it three days ago. I collected Ivan-tea for the mix.

[Linadoc]

Linadoc, Linochka, you can open a mini-plant, such fields.

[francevna]

francevna,

I have a group Ivan-Chai — storeroom # 1, this is Yandar tea from Mari — El.

one of the first teas I tasted, after which I was practically disappointed in Ivan tea, is Yandar. Fortunately, a little later I found this forum and tried what they do here. And that silo with a sour taste and smell almost immediately gave to someone from friends

Here I made a recipe for a mix with Ivan-tea, detailed, almost educational:


Tea mix of Ivan-tea with leaves of garden plants and alder (Linadoc)

[Yuri K]

Yuri K, maybe you got a bad batch. You can't find fault with all the tea. I agree that fresh tea does not have the same aroma as aged tea. I bought 3 kg at once, 300 grams remained, poured it into a glass jar. A prune aroma, floral fruity. Not only delighted with tea with currant leaves. And the neighbors drink this tea after I have treated them.
Guzel and Lidochka Kosmos sent me tea, the aroma was very different. And now he has been aged for two years and the tea has become odorous.
Recently there was a free delivery, this year's harvest, but I missed it. It must be taken, poured into a glass container and allowed time for dry fermentation.
Not everyone has the opportunity to make their own Ivan-Tea, but here the price-quality ratio is normal.

[francevna]

francevna, I will not argue, but buy too. The party was 16 years old, there is no more desire to check. I'd better stay without Ivan's tea, we'll drink our village tea than what was sent. But there was an opportunity to try Elena's teas Borisyonok, something like this.

Good day everyone! I am reading the topic with great interest. I decided to join and tell about my experience. I started making tea 2 years ago. A woman I knew told me the recipe and I decided to try it, because I bought it from different manufacturers and the taste did not please. In the described recipe, the technology is simplified - collect fireweed, scroll, leave overnight, dry and in jars. The first tea turned out to be quite dark and with a weak fruity aroma. The smell has not changed during the year. This year I found a recipe on this forum. And now I try different ways of wilting, experiment with fermentation time. The first batch of 4 kg dried for 6 hours and fermented for about 10. The tea came out dark. After a week of dry fermentation, a pleasant fruit aroma and a light floral scent appeared. It is brewed tightly and the infusion solution is dark.
I tried an apple tree leaf and a bird cherry leaf. Apple granules turned out to be light and velvety to the touch. After a week, the feeling that he was slightly damp. I collected an apple tree leaf, dried it for 3 hours, froze it overnight, then thawed it a little in a meat grinder, fermented for 3 hours and in a dryer without roasting. Dried up in 2 hours, hung for half a day. I dry in an infrared dryer.
Bird cherry leaf is also frozen, but fermentation for 7 hours. The aroma of blooming bird cherry in both dry and brewed tea.
The next batch of Ivan-tea dried up for 24 hours. Fermentation was very difficult, although all conditions were met. The juice was scrolling. Fermented therefore 18 hours. I roasted it in the oven and in the dryer. I'm waiting for the result. When roasted, the smell of prunes appeared, like in greenfield tea.

But I'll write later about leaf tea twisted in a basin by hand ..))

please write down ..
I knead very strongly with my hands, cover with a heating pad or put on a grill, a damp cloth, press tightly and cover the leaves, but I did not feel the aroma during fermentation?

I chose the "leaven" option in 2 or 3 liter jars. It makes no sense to describe the whole process, it has been described more than once

Can you describe, please ...



and what height of the fermenting tea should be, whether it should lie tightly during fermentation.
if the height is 10 cm or 7 cm, will the fermentation be of high quality?

[Emerald]

Emerald, Olga, good afternoon, sent a message to you in a personal!

The fermentation was very difficult,

Good afternoon, I guess fermentation is going hard in our region this year because of the constant rains. In the main recipe, Lyudmila advises to collect the leaves 2 - 3 days after rain (since.the water washes away the bacteria that promote fermentation, and during this time they form again). And what are 2-3 days when the rains are pouring every day ..... So let's spin in what we have!

hard because of the constant rains.

Most likely. It pours constantly. I came to the conclusion that I do not shed much. And in a meat grinder, the strainer is ordinary, not large. Maybe this also affects? But if the leaf is dried for 2-3 hours after collection, then fermentation goes better. And due to the fine strainer, the small granules come out and dry faster.
I chose the acceptable fermentation time for myself 5-8 hours. One batch stood for a day and the tea was very strong with the smell of prunes. And the first batch of shoes smells. And from party to party is very different. Lonely so far has never come out.

Lonely so far has never come out.

so it's good !! so you can understand what you like best, in the future, stick to your chosen favorite options

Good time everyone. I read a lot, different things, including this topic. I decided to try to make tea home. The first pancake is completely lumpy. The second is not clear yet.
Ivan grass, harvested, (2 batches of about 2 kg each) day - two dried. Meat grinder one pass through a large grate. Fermentation without oppression, 16-20 hours. Further drying for about 5 hours in "dry wind" at about 70 degrees, stirring. Day outside in a pillowcase)) at 28 degrees.
So far, what is alarming is not exactly the smell that should be, perhaps in a month it will come up, but the second point is that the dry mass has a slightly darker color than after fermentation - dark brown-green. It feels dry enough to the touch. Just a few people treated them, so they have a black it !! True, some were dried in the oven, with "roasting". So I think, until a little time has passed (4 days) after drying, can you still finish drying - fry, or be patient and wait?
The photos are very different only because of the flash. I would not want to throw it all away later)

[Ramzes83]

Ramzes83, the same raw material with different heat treatment (temperature and duration) produces different teas. If your ivanushka has already dried, then you will recreate the black color only by charring. (This is purely my opinion, I do not pretend to be true) Leave it as it is. Any experience is rewarding and invaluable. You write that you read a lot of different topics, I also read a lot, including reading and watching videos of how Indian tea is made. Here is one report that I was especially keen on, there a completely dark-purple Indian told that mistakes are most often obtained when the temperature is kept above or below the required one, then the grade of tea turns out to be lower. And he added that not everyone manages to keep the temperature at 92 degrees. Since then, my personal court cockroaches have ordered me to keep exactly this temperature. I have an electric oven that allows me to set the desired temperature, and in addition, for control, I always keep a thermometer in the oven (the thermometer is verified). And girls and boys do all kinds of ivanushka, who keeps the temperature even, who first fry at the shock temperature, and then lower the temperature. All teas have the right to be, the main thing is to like the tea. Another time, after collecting Ivanushka, divide it into portions and make it differently, and you will find exactly your tea. It's very exciting and delicious!

[Creamy]

Creamy, Alevtina,

Thank you. That’s what I’ll do this weekend. In the meantime, my mother-in-law is on vacation, I will try to "cook" some raspberries, mint and currants separately))