Ivan tea (fermentation of fireweed leaves) - master class

[my]

I accidentally got a very successful tea this year. By my opinion. And with aroma and practically without acidity. The whole family approved.
And it turned out like this.
I collected the sheet and immediately spread it out in the attic of the dacha, it took about 8 sq. meters. A day later, I urgently had to go home by train, folded the sheet, which was still a bit underdeveloped, in my backpack, took it with me and for about 3-4 hours I had it there. When I looked at home, the backpack was already very warm from self-heating. I decided to add it, spread the film and spread it again on the garage floor, fortunately, the car remained in the country.
The next day, he began to scroll, he immediately refused the electric one - he was afraid to ruin the equipment. Lishku is dry. Yes, and in manual - a meat grinder at work, together with the table from the floor sometimes came off. Crank half, rubbed calluses. Then I removed the knife from the meat grinder and simply crushed the leaves into a splash with only one auger. Then he took out their crumpled ones and cut them with a knifeal. In general, it turned out half of the granules and half of the sheet. There was enough trouble until I finished it all off.

Through m-c for the future I bought an additional grill for the meat grinder like this.

Then it (5 liters in volume) slowly fermented very much, apparently, there was not enough moisture for it, in general, I kept it for more than a day until the spirit from the tank went right.
Then he dried it. Aero grill in a dozen, probably, gas stations.
I held it for a couple of weeks in a common bag, and then put it into cellophane bags (store-bought from cheap pasta 400 g from "Pyaterochka") and unpacked the bags with the help of a Su Vid vacuumizer, but without pumping air.
Now I open it, drink and rejoice. This is the third package. But I doubt that this process will be repeated. After all, I restore the technology only from memory, without recording and it is not yet clear what was the key there. Maybe he just picked the leaves inabouttime.

Greetings. Record it still fresh. In general, you actually got a double fermentation. But what I overwhelmed is certainly not ice. I do double fermentation sometimes. Ivanushka after double fermentation is more saturated and aromatic.

Now the new year has come, and I filled the presents with sauces and teas. This afternoon there was a call - a friend of mine is one of my close (afraid, apparently, to drink my teas - that's what she gave them to someone, and so this lady today cut off my phone, I had to adjust all plans to her - said that this was exactly the kind of tea her grandmother prepared , moreover, I packed 4-12-24 fermentation as a gift, that is, there are 3 types of one Vanechka and a couple of three garden and mixes. True, she was especially impressed by Vanechka-Pukhlik. so, it turns out, they used to make it different too, and, apparently, I have similar conditions, since she even determined the smell of tea ... and she bought, according to her, a lot of different things, but it was all wrong. .. it was very pleasant that such a joy happened to a person.

[kartinka]

kartinka, MarinaHow good it is that a person gets pleasure and remembers childhood!
And in general ... when they tell me about their amazing impressions of tea, I myself get additional pleasure!

[Radushka]

Radushka,

Yes, I also have a mass with terrible force warming up while I'm taking it home. Then I show the children tricks, like put the pen in the middle of the bag of leaves ... pull it back in fright)))
All with Baptism!

Goodnight! Dear tea lovers, I ask for advice. Since 2016, a small batch has remained, a mixture of dry leaves ivan chai
fermented. Ejection The hand did not rise.I brewed a very interesting tea. The infusion is like a good black tea, rich, without haze, and it tastes like a good Indian. But the most interesting thing is the effect itself
extraordinary cheerfulness. As if strong black tea

lovers, I ask for advice

So what do you ask for advice?

[Yuri K]

Yuri K, also did not understand. Throw away-not throw away?
Immediately I remembered "Operation Y" with the need to break a bottle

Immediately I remembered "Operation Y" with the need to break a bottle

Since 2016 remained

Ivan tea gets even better over time, as you can see.
I have tea, which will be 4 years old in May. Excellent tea, delicious, aromatic.

Thank you very much for your reply. It was just surprising that tea became closer to black teas and in the proportion of unfermented
Ivan was more

Opened the May tea season. Yesterday the oven worked for half the night ... In paradise, this is probably the smell. I tasted fresh ... Masterpiece !!!

Yuri K, I'm talking about a photo of Ivan-tea from the theme of garden teas. If space permits, then can you spread-wither the leaves in one thin layer, wither faster and equally? You've probably already made tea from leaves along with flowers? What exactly do flowers give? I made separately Ivan-tea "White-pink" (from the tops of unblown flowers) and together with the leaves.



Linadoc, (answering your message on the topic of garden teas) this year I don’t know what to call our Vanka: May or June? According to the weather now, as in May. And in size: if it grows scattered, in the grass, then it is knee-deep, and next to it there is a huge clearing - it’s there on my chest. I also need to take into account that the sun was not enough, and there was a lot of water and rain. And how much to ferment it? I will sniff hard. One caveat: at the beginning of fermentation, t rose by 2-3C, dropped about 2 hours later, maybe this is the end of the process?

I'm talking about a photo of Ivan-tea from the theme of garden teas. If space permits, then can you spread-wither the leaves in one thin layer, wither faster and equally?

My opinion is that you need to lay it out for drying in a certain layer, not quite thin and periodically stir up, mix. Then the sheet will dry out evenly. It is difficult to keep track of a thin layer, especially at high temperatures in summer, the leaf at some point may just start to dry, but this is no longer drying.
Moreover, since I cannot collect raw materials in small batches due to the distance of travel for Cyprus, I have to freeze most of it in the freezer after drying. And after defrosting, a rather large amount of moisture is released in the mass, so you have to additionally lay out the batch for drying. And only after that, proceed to the traditional stages of further processing.

You've probably already made tea from leaves along with flowers? What exactly do flowers give? I made separately Ivan-tea "White-pink" (from the tops of unblown flowers) and together with the leaves.

Such a rich choice of variations is physically inaccessible to me. The girls from the "Tea Club" know that fireweed is worth its weight in gold for me, almost never found in my area ... Therefore, I have to use the found raw materials to the maximum, without frills. Flowers for my taste give some honeyiness in combination with a specific delicate aroma, in contrast to tea made only from leaf mass.

after drying, most of it has to be frozen

... So you still freeze the young leaves and the tea turns out?

Flowers

You probably collect not the flowers themselves, but completely the peduncle - a stem with flowers? That is, there are not blossoming buds there. Could it be possible to wither (and collect) them separately from the leaves? They wither longer.

So you still freeze the young leaves and the tea turns out?

Why shouldn't he succeed?

You probably collect not the flowers themselves, but completely the peduncle - a stem with flowers? Ie.there are also unblown buds. Could it be possible to wither (and collect) them separately from the leaves? They wither longer.

From the stem, I remove the color in the same way as the leaves, only moving towards the top. I have seed pods there and the color turns out. I wither everything along with the foliage for several hours. For this, a certain layer is needed, not thin, for the uniformity of drying.

[dalida]

Hello everybody! it is drying and I have a vanechka, the smell is awesome, yesterday I made the first batch, it came out very fragrant ...
dalida, I don't use the stem either, everything is perfectly removed, last year I made a separate flower one, but still I came across small leaves, I didn't choose them, they were almost imperceptible there, the tea turned out to be honey Yuri K, taste, but the aftertaste is not honey, not even explain, tart-floral-sooo pleasant.
I also made leaves with half the flowers (since the raw materials allowed), the tastes are similar, but the floral is more delicate, subtle or something, and more aromatic.
All year I tried different jars, with different fermentation times, and so for my taste, I liked the late vanechka the most, when I picked it up sooo mature, even with reddened leaves. As for me, it is more similar to ordinary tea, but the taste is more intense compared to May, although now I am gradually doing what I can collect, starting from the earliest May (I mixed one can with different Vanechka last year, I really liked it)
Now only 3 liters of a bank of May small-leaved and 2 liters of large-leaved one is ready - it was no longer possible to go for raw materials, very much manual twisting looks good in a bank - I will put it and admire the beauty
And the late vanechka looks like a late blackberry to me - as Yura advised - to collect already a red one - there was only one liter jar - I still use it literally on a spoon - very economically, so that this year I will collect as much as I can take away

floral

Hurrah! Even more fun work! This is how many flowers you need to collect for one serving .... ABOUT TSE RASTYUHA! - I'm talking about Ivan-tea. I would have put it in the book of records!

late blackberries - as Yura advised - to collect already red

I have two large bushes in my dacha. So, it is better not to approach it until autumn, wait until the leaves turn red?

late blackberry

I will collect as much as I can
carry away

Is that good? Does it make sense to look outside the city?

[dalida]

dalida, Yura has a recipe, look, I really liked it, though it turned out a little tea, one bookmark of the dryer, this year I will try to look for more blackberries, and I will make Vanechka as much as I can, tea made of everything - leaves, flowers, boxes - I like any, by April I poured all the Vanechins' remnants together, I liked the mix.
As for the flowers-boxes, there would be a clearing-going very quickly

[kartinka]

kartinka, Do you simply dry the fireweed flowers or ferment the same as the leaves?

I’ve read it here, I’ll go all the weekend to prepare what I have to, what I’ll find, so my hands are itching to try it out. Thank you all for such a wonderful Temko and advice and recipes.

DALIDA, this year, too, my fermentation is not expressed, especially the first batches of May, and the smell is not quite the same and the temperature, one batch, so the fermentation stopped after 7-10 hours, however, it did not affect the taste.
Yes, and this year I don’t wither in May at all. The leaves are tender, like a young cabbage.
And I also noticed that this year the stalks of May Ivanushka are not as sweet and tender as in previous years, the stalk could be eaten without a trace like young corn, and this is more fibrous.

[Taroma]

Taroma, I make all the fireweed according to the same algorithm, (just like the leaves, now with a small one there is very little time, so while I fill the freezer in the supply) although I dry the flowers separately, but only as an additive to tea, for beauty.Flowers in hand-rolled tea look very good - I make them for gifts, basically, I also dry and garden flowers - with them, any tea looks festive and elegant. But the dried ones have no taste for me
Try different options - I mean fermentation time - to decide for the next year what you like best
The topics write the approximate time, but I tried it that year and made different banks, now I know for sure which one likes best




Citizen, that's for sure, the May one is also different for me, it depends on the weather, humidity, etc. Every time I try to navigate by the flavors themselves.

My opinion is that you need to lay it out for drying in some layer, not quite thin and periodically stir it up, mix it. Then the sheet will dry out evenly. It is difficult to keep track of a thin layer, especially at high temperatures in summer, the leaf at some point may just start to dry once, but this is no longer drying. [/ I also lay out

So, it is better not to approach it until autumn, wait until the leaves turn red?

Fermented tea "Autumn Breeze" from the forest blackberry leaf (Yuri K)

Everyone is "steaming" as best they can: I dry only in plastic bags stupidly tightly releasing the air beforehand. I tried it in fabrics and in all sorts of different things ...



do not cycle on what they write to you, such as wait until it turns red (although I myself will try at that moment))) collect at all times. and now I try to do this: I collect it in stages, in succession, at every time moment, and at the same time I dry, ferment, dry in different ways. And at the same time I keep a diary / observations. Everything is surprising. For six years I perceive everything differently ...

Why shouldn't he succeed?

Since, according to the weather, my Ivan-tea can be considered young, that is, there are no peduncles yet, I ask you to tell me, since it can be frozen, Yuri, do you freeze it once or have you tried it several times? Realizing that there is a lot of moisture in it, it wilted well and froze.
An interesting thought sounded on TV yesterday: "The most delicious tea comes from those places where it is cool - these are the mountainous regions of China, and not where the sun burns everything out." And I was worried that our June is cold. And yet ... I'm moving on to the topic of country tea.

Yuri, do you freeze it once or have you tried it several times?

Once, this is out of necessity. I take out the batch, as I planned to make, the rest lies until free time appears.

the thought sounded on TV yesterday: "The most delicious tea comes from those places where it is cool - these are the mountainous regions of China, and not where the sun burns everything out." And I was worried that our June is cold.

This applies to camellia. But of all the Ivan-teas that have been tasted, the most delicious is where the heat is incredible. ))

the most delicious - this is where the heat is incredible.

PANCAKE! I guessed ... I will do it anyway! :: girl_cray: And live with the thought that somewhere, someone's tastes better ...

[dalida]

dalida, and rightly so, you need to do and enjoy what you have. My tea always turns out differently, depending on where it is harvested, at what time (young, old, on dry land, before or after rain), the degree of withering, the time of fermentation and the method of processing.

I will do it anyway!

The most correct decision !!!

need to do and enjoy

The key word is enjoy. Such a positive drive throughout the entire tea making process is the best therapy, especially psychological. I can't wait to go every time that I get blown up from the very early morning, I can leave the house at 6-7 (coffee in a thermos and a sandwich), I’ll ride a bike from home for about 40 minutes - and, here is the forest, meadows. From the beginning, as a tracker, I look for those plants that have been tested by others (thanks for the additional "work", I look closely, sniff for two hours), and in the end - two packages of Ivanovich on the steering wheel and reluctantly go home. Every trip is like a mini vacation.
Thank you all for your support and for giving us hope that the tea will work out!

Collected some hanerol)))




By the way, I photographed those plants from which I previously collected the May leaf. No visible negative effects on the plant.

We are Ivan-dependent))). On the weekend, for the first time this year, harvested, before flowering. I buried my nose in the collected bag and lamented "oh, how it smells, how I missed this smell, I haven't inhaled for a whole year"
With fermentation, it turned out not quite familiar: cold. And this has its own charm: the same does not work. It's great when you have a choice of which one to brew ...

Hello everyone. glad to see you in the new tea season. all year from June to June, Ivan drank only tea, nothing more. I don’t know how useful it is, but not exactly harmful, for a year nothing got sick and did not fall off. I feel great. Delicious Ivan teas to everyone.

Yes, KLIMENT, he was also a quirk - he didn't drink anything for three years, and the same - nothing)))
Listen comrades! I don't understand ... The first batch of blooming (just blossomed) I processed, did not really smell (there were no fantastic smells), I did not really warm myself, I dried without a special smell, but it turned out the way I never did when I was born, a masterpiece !! !

Ivan tea blossoms.
Silly doubts melt away.
Do not be lazy, but collect
The heart beats in rapture!

Author?

Hello everybody! I am already drying 7 trays and 2 frying trays. This batch is not frozen, the smell is worth drinking
Hello everybody
Thoughts aloud, I still have Vanechka's reserves of different times of fermentation, should I mix them or not? Especially last year I did fermentation from 3-4 to 24 hours, in order to understand for myself which one tastes better to me, and that's what is strange - although they criticize long-fermented, my husband and I prefer it more, and my daughter likes 4 hours more and green.

which one tastes better to me, and that's what is strange - although they scold long-fermented, my husband and I prefer it more, and my daughter likes 4 o'clock and green more.
I share with you, I also have long-fermented, fried, frying pan, but I really am one tea-man, my wife and daughter drink packaged Mexican dust

wife and daughter drink bagged Mexican dust

We have a tension with fireweed, so my spouse and I switched completely to tea from garden and wild plants that are available. The "classic" tea has ceased to be perceived at all. Even those, rather expensive, varieties that were once very popular.
By the way, my question is not about tea, but about the plant. So I'll hide it under the spoiler

no photo, alas, because I didn't take the camera. Yesterday I walked far from home along the stream and saw a very beautiful coastal plant. The flowers are bright crimson pink. Hang so beautifully. Large enough. more than a centimeter each. They resemble Ivan tea houses from afar. The inflorescences are not a pyramid, like in Ivanchay, but an ear, or something. Leaves 5-7 cm wide, with pronounced veins (both central and branching off from it. Leaves on a "stalk." that 10 years ago in the same place, but in August, I saw them blooming magnificently, taller than my height. The leaf after the batch test smelled very nice

Since I have this year, I hope, for the first time properly made tea, there are still many questions. Fermented for 2 to 5 hours. t of the mass itself during fermentation was from 25C to 27C. The smell is always the same: strong, even harsh, but not floral-honey, although pleasant. She roasted from 110C to 140C for 20 minutes, took the tea out of the oven slightly underdried. The granules are always almost black from the top, and green when broken - does it mean that they are under-fermented?
I opened a can of tea, which I made in early June: the smell of honey, typical for Ivan-tea. The brewed tea is light yellow, with a weak aroma and very weak taste. How do others immediately taste "masterpiece"? Maybe because it does not bloom here yet?

She roasted from 110C to 140C for 20 minutes, took the tea out of the oven slightly underdried. The granules are always almost black from the top, and green when broken.

Green means underdried. Be sure to hang out to dry in a canvas bag in a ventilated and warm place, a balcony, a canopy, it's easier in a private house. Otherwise it will be lost! Stir occasionally. On the first page, everything is very meticulously described. I post from 3 days to a week. And only after that for storage.

Green means underdried.

I take the sheets of tea from the oven to the second floor (in a private house it is much warmer, hot in summer, and drier) and leave them right on the sheets for several days until I remember. I pour into the jar only absolutely dry. Made granules small and large, all green inside. So I think, or fermentation is not sufficient, or fry longer? I think because of this the taste is weak, it turns out closer to green.

Today's video about the preparation of Ivan tea:

I also watched this video, I liked the method with cutting dried leaves in a combine, you need to apply

[Clement]

Clement, to me on you!
At least one of the one-of-a-kind tasters made one more batch yesterday, but already at 12 o'clock it has been drying since night. There was no time to collect at all - I collected both leaves and flowers, all in one mix.

[kartinka]

kartinka, although summer is in full swing, you understand what days are counting, I want to have time for a white-pink party, and try to make a mix with a cherry, and wind up my favorite sheet. and conjure with the freezer. there are many desires to experiment. a little bit every day. let's not lag behind.

I have a tiny experience with pure willow tea ... I did it only once. They sent in a parcel rhizomes and a bush, which was cut off from the roots, wrapped in paper and film. Taking into account the time from digging to drying, the fermentation was about 4.5 days. The tea came out delicious. BUT ... it is very similar to good (very good) "shop" camellia tea (as our Linochka says). It seems to me that the beauty of fireweed tea is precisely in its unusual honey taste and aroma. And prolonged fermentation reduces it. IMHO, of course
In the absence of fireweed raw materials in the right amount for mono-tea, I add it to the mix of garden plants about 10% of the total. And not only I immediately hear this special aroma and taste! I ferment for no more than 4 hours (from the beginning of twisting to drying)

[Clement]

Girls-boys can not help but share, I have a pillowcase with the previous tea hanging. It has been hanging for a couple of days for sure, the account of the days has been lost (that's how many times I told myself, write a piece of paper and a pin on the pillowcase at once (last year I did it, but there were many different mixes at the same time, so there was a need, but here only a vanechka mix (and leaves and tops), you have to go to the diary notebook to look, and too lazy ...
After the sweltering heat, it started raining and my pillowcase is drying - it will never dry in the room ...
Now I brewed tea from it .... I drank with my husband together, I was speechless .... the tea turned out to be sooo tasty, rich, honey-caramel I don't know how to say yet. The color of the infusion is deep-dark. Fermented 4 hours from scroll (2 grates - large and medium)
This was preceded by 2 days of withering in a thick layer (usually I make it thinner) in a roll in a tablecloth and a terry towel on top
The question is, what influenced tea so much? Collect-time-in the same place, everything is the same, except for 2 days of twisting in a thick layer. True, there was no such pitch that year. Did the heat really affect that?
I can imagine how it will show itself after dry pre-fermentation




Clement, I would gladly not leave the plantation for at least a day, only the weather has now improved, at least cry well, the package is still dry, I will have one more pillowcase

[kartinka]

kartinka, and today after the rains I collected three packages of Ivanushki. although it is necessary to collect according to the recipe and in dry weather, but for almost a month the rains are transmitted, do not stop the workpiece, and the time for the workpiece will pass. I will dry and put in the freezer