Fermented tea made from leaves of garden and wild plants (master class)

[Svetlana Kravchenko]

I mean, it smelled like grass or cherries

Svetlana Kravchenko, said it stinks. And I didn't have a cherry smell when drying. It smelled like some kind of greenery.

[OlgaWing]

OlgaWing,

I will share my experience. I also made cherries for the first time a week ago. I was also expecting a "thermonuclear" smell. And it turned out to be weak, tender ... Although everyone around them recognized the cherry during tasting)
Radushka said to this that the smell depends very much on the type of cherry. Wildlife smells the strongest, and garden varieties are much weaker. I haven't found the game yet, so I can't compare. And I left the tea for dry fermentation - I hope that the very smell will still appear!

Don't throw anything away. The girls wrote many times that in a year any tea, even the most unsuccessful one, simply cannot be recognized.
Good luck with tea making and tea making!

Thank you!
I didn't even have a cherry (((
I don’t know what grade I have, not such a small, large one. Exactly, these are not hands - hooks, this is not the cherry



Light,

said it stinks. And I didn't have a cherry smell when drying. It smelled like some kind of greenery.

So I was in a hurry to throw it away. And then I dried it, there was a weak herbal smell, by the way, during drying, not strong. After drying, she smelled and smelled, hoping to sniff out at least something similar, spat on this hopeless business, and poured it into a bucket.



My neighbors have small cherries growing, I'll go ask them



And yet, during fermentation, focus on a strong aroma, even if it turns out little in time?

[Svetlana Kravchenko]

After drying, she smelled, smelled, hoping to sniff at least something similar, spat on this hopeless business, and poured it into a bucket

Svetlana Kravchenko, it was the process of making tea. It was not ready yet!

[Light]

Light, yes, you have to fill your hand. Fortunately, there are still a lot of leaves on the trees, maybe I'll learn)))

[Svetlana Kravchenko]

Svetlana Kravchenkoof course learn

Please answer someone from practice: when fermenting, focus on a strong aroma, even if it turns out little in time?
This question worries me very much!

Countryman, what about your garden and garden at your dacha, that is, 180 meters from the planes going to land?
I have no trick, I'm interested in information)

Not certainly in that way. If it comes to that, I am not at all involved in the garden or vegetable garden. On Skhodnya (this is under the Sheremetyevo glide path), where my father's house, my sister is engaged in the garden. And 108 km (according to the meter) from Skhodnya at the dacha, two km from the Volga, see photo 2007 🔗 and then on the links there, the wife is engaged in the vegetable garden.

And I'm not an agrarian. I'm a craftsman. I am engaged in maintaining both facilities in working order. At the dacha also construction. All with their little hands. And almost always alone, relying only on himself, like Robinson Crusoe. I'm spinning, sticking out my tongue like a bobby. For 14 years of my summer cottage I have never gone to pick mushrooms, although there are heaps of mushrooms, the forest is right next to the fence and blueberries are there. I swam in the Volga four times over the years, although I have a car and a bicycle at hand. Fishing only in winter, but I went here for 30 years before the dacha.

Well, for tea it is better, of course, to collect in the country. It is much cleaner there, in comparison with the one on Skhodnya next to my father's house. But, however, on Skhodnya the choice of horticultural crops is richer. But Ivan-tea, strawberries and heather - there are more of those in the country.

during fermentation to focus on a strong aroma, even if the time is short?

I didn’t want to answer, because they’ll start insulting again. But I still feel sorry for the person - I collected, tried, did, and then threw away my labor. All because again I did not read carefully
Ivan tea, it seems, was re-fermented, since it was dried all night (!) Lay in a bag at T = 25-26 *, and then after scrolling for a couple of hours, and then another 4. I think more than 16 hours left ( and if you count from the beginning of withering, then all 24 hours). And they wrote many, many times, which is optimal for 4-6 hours. Of course, focus on the aroma, since you break the whole process described in the recipe. And after drying, the tea should not smell anything if it is well dried. Dry in a bag and lock in a jar. And in a month or two you will open the jar and feel the same aroma, and after 6-8 months there will already be a scent

wow, in the morning I read the debriefings, immediately analyze how I do
I do not always manage to focus on the aroma .... I temper according to Zachary, I ferment for 3-4 hours. so what scent turned out like this, but I carefully monitor the temperature. I put a thermometer next to it. already at 25 * I walk around the apartment with a saucepan - in the bedroom on the floor the temperature is still around 22-23 - I put it there)
Yesterday I made leafy raspberries. I liked the smell! Last year, when I did such a smell, there was no second seagulls - raspberries, blackberries, bird cherry. I was afraid that the bird cherry would win everyone, but no! during fermentation, I heard a pleasant mixture, too, made a leafy one - I didn't want to get upset because of the lack of granules)

read about water mint. tell me, have you met her this year? is it worth going to look for?
and still after - collecting lime blossom?

No, I have never been to the river yet, they will gnaw it ... There are clouds of vampires in this damp year. Will still succeed, mint will not run anywhere)))) I don’t collect the linden blossom, I don’t see the point, I read from the girls that they didn’t get anything good from the leaves, and the flowers are used only as decoration, any, without fermentation.

[Yuri K,]

Yuri K, we have a dacha across the street from the river I understand what I mean. Tell us, did you meet her in the Urals or Sakmara? or not a lake at all? I just want to reveal the direction)))
I need linden flowers. I just don't know where to look for this tree. do not tell me where we have?

[sweet_blondy]

sweet_blondy, on any body of water, you will not be mistaken, you just have to rub the leaf in your fingers. Lipa-well, I saw a lot of it near Bashkiria, we have only a few like that. Where I go, there is no linden.

[Yuri K,]

Yuri K, Again the road leads to Bashkiria with Ivan-tea easier - it can be torn for a long time, but linden blossoms for only a few days ... it will be difficult to guess. I'll go to the dacha on the weekend I'll give my husband a task, let him look for mint) just go fishing)



by the way, I have one weed growing on my site. looks like field mint. the leaves are fragrant, but I can't say that it smells like mint. but there is a certain freshness in the smell. opened my reference book. it says that mint has been blooming since June, and mine began to grow actively in May ... because of this I thought that it was still a different herb.

And yet, during fermentation, focus on a strong aroma, even if it turns out little in time?

Someone else will tell you, but I am guided by the advice of Lyudmila lappl1:
"I won't get tired of repeating - you need to be guided by the smell - a change from herbal to a strong floral-fruity aroma. As soon as the smell begins to fade, there is a risk of getting those notes about which you wrote."

How did you, Svetlana, dry? The color does not depend on fermentation, but on the drying temperature.
I agree that they were in a hurry to throw it away ...

[Zeamays]

Zeamays, in this quote we are talking about Ivan-tea.
But this is about fruit and berry plants:

Fermentation of leaves of garden plants spend an average of 6-8 hours, depending on the temperature. The smell of the mass during fermentation does not change dramatically (like that of willow tea), it just intensifies and acquires interesting notes - each plant has its own. It is important to "catch" the strongest odor (this will be easy with experience).This moment will be the signal for the end of fermentation. As the fermentation continues, the odor will subside and the tea may result in a weaker aroma. It is important not to overexpose the leaves during fermentation so as not to lose this flavor.

I don't have Ivan-tea, but fermentation of fruit tree leaves is obtained according to this scheme - I'm waiting for the strongest aroma.
If you start to dry when "... The smell of the mass does not change dramatically during fermentation (like that of willow tea), it just intensifies and acquires interesting notes ..."it turns out not fragrant, just dried foliage.
Maybe I feel this way, but the smell changes dramatically, no herbal, just floral or fruity, specific

[Linadoc]

Linadoc,

I didn’t want to answer, because they’ll start insulting again. But I still feel sorry for the person - I collected, tried, did, and then threw away my labor. All because again I did not read carefully
Ivan tea, it seems, was re-fermented, since it was dried all night (!) Lay in a bag at T = 25-26 *, and then after scrolling for a couple of hours, and then another 4. I think more than 16 hours left ( and if you count from the beginning of withering, then all 24 hours). And they wrote many, many times, which is optimal for 4-6 hours. Of course, focus on the aroma, since you break the whole process described in the recipe.

Why insult? And personally, I am very grateful to you
Yes, I read, and read the recipe, and the forum, until I mastered 90 pages. I just often met in the text that it dried out for a long time, that it even warmed up, and they even practice 24-hour fermentation, and people turned out even better. And it was my fermentation that was about 3 hours in total, and the smell intensified after 1.5 - 2 hours. Maybe that's why there is no color when brewing. And at night she left him to wither, since the compressed lump crumbled. I also overcooked it, I guess. Feels slightly such a note. In general, somehow all the conditions did not work out for me.

It turns out that at this temperature, the dark color of the infusion cannot be obtained, since fermentation is fast, 1.5-2 hours?

[Svetlana Kravchenko]

It turns out that at this temperature, the dark color of the infusion cannot be obtained, since fermentation is fast, 1.5-2 hours?

Svetlana KravchenkoThe color of the tea depends on the plant. It is weak in cherries.

[Linadoc]

Linadoc,

And after drying, the tea should not smell anything if it is well dried. Dry in a bag and lock in a jar. And in a month or two you will open the jar and feel the same aroma, and after 6-8 months there will already be a scent

It is clear, otherwise they write everything that is dried and immediately smells delicious, and I was upset. I threw away the cherries, but the ivan tea is not there yet. I will pour it into a jar, I will wait, maybe, indeed, all is not lost yet) Otherwise, Ivan-tea is no longer for experiments. All 10 bushes were planted for divorce.

but Ivan-tea is not yet

Ivanushka was saved

[Svetlana Kravchenko,]

Svetlana Kravchenko, Have you withered the cherries, or did you freeze them? how many times? my cherry starts to smell after defrosting)

[sweet_blondy]

sweet_blondy,

wow, in the morning I read the debriefings, immediately analyze how I do
I do not always manage to focus on the aroma .... I temper according to Zachary, I ferment for 3-4 hours. so what scent turned out like this, but I carefully monitor the temperature. I put a thermometer next to it. already at 25 * I walk around the apartment with a saucepan - in the bedroom on the floor the temperature is still around 22-23 - I put it there)

Yes, we will have to do this with our summer, look for a more suitable temperature with a thermometer. I did not take this into account. Rather, not 30 degrees. I thought it would work out, but no.




Light,

Ivanushka was saved

Yes thank you)))

[Svetlana Kravchenko,]

Svetlana Kravchenko, for high-quality fermentation, the flow is 26 * when the thermometer shows 25, I already go to the bedroom) I do not want to risk it

[sweet_blondy]

sweet_blondy,

Have you withered the cherries, or did you freeze them? how many times? my cherry starts to smell after defrosting)

I wilted it and froze it once. She smelled fresh of grass or leaves all the time.

[Svetlana Kravchenko]

Svetlana Kravchenko, next time try freezing 2 times. I have some leaves after the second freeze start to smell by the way, and all the leaves you have turned dark after the freezer?

[sweet_blondy]

sweet_blondy,

my cherry starts to smell after defrosting)

or maybe, really, my cherry is not the same. The neighbors have a small, probably wild game. I'm going to beg)))




sweet_blondy,

next time try freezing twice. I have some leaves after the second freeze start to smell by the way, and all the leaves you have turned dark after the freezer?

And I decided not to freeze for the second time, because I read that some do not freeze at all and everything is fine.
But no leaves, not all darkened, "but others do not freeze and it turns out", I hoped that it was enough.



In general, thank you girls, you are so cool and responsive. A little cleared up.
I will make the neighbor's cherries according to Zachariah and monitor the temperature. You need to gain experience)

maybe, really, my cherry is not the same. The neighbors have a small, probably wild game. I'm going to beg)))

Maybe the cherry is really not the same, maybe the felt one ... what flavor it gives and whether it barks, I don't know.

And I decided not to freeze for the second time, because I read that some do not freeze at all and everything is fine.
But no leaves, not all darkened, "but others do not freeze and it turns out", I hoped that it was enough.

You can wither and twist ... but the cherry still smells ...
And if you freeze it according to Zachariah, then the tea tastes better and the leaves smell strong even when defrosting.
These are two different methods, you need to decide which one suits you and which one you like best.

Now about the temperature and time of fermentation. The first year I smelled and looked at the thermometer ... now I don't look. At a temperature of about 20 to 28, I wrap the saucepan in a blanket and ferment for 6-8 hours and dry fry. If I do according to Zechariah, I ferment for 3-4 hours and dry again with frying. The tea is excellent. And we have already written many times, the most delicious country tea, that is, you pick up different leaves, dry and twist everything together. Then you will like the color and the aroma of tea. I have packets of different leaves in my freezer until I dial the desired set, then I begin to defrost, freeze and then follow the recipe. When I wilt the defrosted leaves before scrolling, they already smell fragrant, not grass.

[Nadyushich]

Nadyushich, I wondered - are there any restrictions on the number of frosts? This week I had a straight kasuz - I typed in everything and there is no time to make tea and all the bags at a time do not fit in the freezer. and I freeze them for sure more than 4 times

[sweet_blondy]

sweet_blondyThe question is how long they are thawed, since fermentation is taking place at this time ... You can simply put it in the refrigerator for a while, at a low temperature fermentation will not go.

[Nadyushich,]

Nadyushich, I have an average of 12 hours in the freezer / on the table. it turns out the re-fermentation is already underway. eeeeh, I should have asked this question earlier!

[Nadyushich,]

Nadyushich, I have an average of 12 hours in the freezer / on the table. it turns out the re-fermentation is already underway. eeeeh, I should have asked this question earlier!

I do not quite understand ... 12 hours in the warmth? Then you need to twist and dry.

[Nadyushich,]

Nadyushich, yes, 12 o'clock on a shaded windowsill, while there is another batch in the freezer. then I change places. and repeated this cycle more than once

[Nadyushich,]

Nadyushich, yes, 12 o'clock on a shaded windowsill, while there is another batch in the freezer. then I change places. and repeated this cycle more than once

And don't you feel sorry for the raw materials? It remains to dry and come what may ...

[Nadyushich,]

Nadyushich, of course a pity! there is so much good! out of ignorance. or rather, from an inattentive reading of Zechariah's method.
I will not throw anything away. I will cook.and I will mark this seagull somehow

[sweet_blondy]

sweet_blondyOf course, nothing needs to be thrown away, there will be an experiment. And for the future, write yourself a cheat sheet to do everything right.

[Nadyushich]

Nadyushich, Thank you! I will try Zachariah and the neighboring cherry. And yes, the rustic also wanted to do it.

At a temperature of about 20 to 28, I wrap the saucepan in a blanket and ferment for 6-8 hours and dry fry. If I do according to Zechariah, I ferment for 3-4 hours and dry again with frying. The tea is excellent.

That is, please clarify for the gifted, if at a temperature of 28 the aroma appeared after 2 hours, say, do you ferment further anyway?

please specify for the gifted

Yes, that every new season we have more and more especially gifted!
Well, how can you be so lazy to read the first 20-30 pages so as not to ask stupid questions and not write about your "talents"? And then you will be offended that they answer you sharply!
If a strong aroma appears, then the fermentation is naturally interrupted! And sharply - frying!

[filirina]

filirina, thank you, sorry, I'm tired of it, I understand. I just read 90 pages, and it seems that everyone has a different experience, who interrupts, who does not, but in the end it turns out well. So I wanted to understand and understand the subtleties of the process for myself.

Svetlana Kravchenko, until you try everything with your own hands, nose, eyes, no descriptions of the subtleties of the process, alas, will help! You will have to fill your bumps! A recipe, any recipe, even the most detailed one, is not a dogma, but a guide to action! You cannot authentically repeat anyone's experience! Everyone has their own scent, their own flavors, their own microflora in the house .... Only experience, the son of difficult mistakes, will open you the wonderful world of his tea .... Good luck!

[Svetlana Kravchenko]

Svetlana KravchenkoYou will only work out the subtleties of the process, for yourself. There are no dogmas here, there are basic templates (the recipe is fundamental), and how to tell the rest? Someone has a bad weather, someone has a humid climate, someone has a dry one. Someone has convection, someone has a simple gas stove. Someone has more of those leaves in the recipe, someone else has a different variety of them. Someone has so much time in the freezer, and so much is defrosted. The temperature during fermentation is different, so is the volume. And much more. Each question - as a result of this, implies an answer from scratch and volume to the same topic that you are reading. I didn’t follow each notepad, as many people here want to do it, it will not work)))) As a result, I get OWN tea, with its own unique aroma, and in each batch it is slightly different from the previous one. Do everything by eye and by intuition, then you will get the result, your own and delicious!



While scraping with a feather, so as not to cut it out with an ax, get out filirina I managed to voice the same

That is, please clarify for the gifted, if at a temperature of 28 the aroma appeared after 2 hours, say, do you ferment further anyway?

Svetlana, I wrote above that I do not smell tea during fermentation and do not get hung up on temperature. I have a two-burner stove, the baking sheets are small and you have to dry 2-3 batches, so there is still a runaway in fermentation time. I put everything in one pillowcase and hang on dry fermentation.
Well, everyone's scent is different. Made black chokeberry tea, it smells like good black tea to me, although during fermentation and drying it smells like cherries. And the husband and daughter feel the strong aroma of cherries. Therefore, I don't catch strong aromas, and this applies primarily to Ivan tea.

[filirina]

filirina, Yuri K, Nadyushich, Thank you for understanding
Of course, patience and work will grind everything) Summer is still ahead, there are a lot of leaves for experiments)

Pleased with cherry tea, like pear tea before. I made it on June 16, then hung in a pillowcase and for the second day it is stored in a sealed metal 400 gram jar from green tea.Today I discovered and smelled a delicate, delicate, slightly sour cherry aroma. The tea was a success, I immediately brewed it, but not pure, but added it to the "working tea" and immediately caught this delicate aroma of cherries. For workers, I call the remains of experiments, a mix: basically to runny - with Ivan tea, with an apple tree, with a pear, a little currant and raspberry.
Spun on an electric meat grinder.
Fermented in a gazebo at an air temperature of 22 degrees for 7 hours in two 1.5 liter plastic containers, crushed by hand and covered with wet gauze in 4 layers and a wet kitchen towel, then for 1 hour in the oven at 100 degrees, dried in an electric dryer at 50 degrees.
In this regard, I would like to ask this: there are not so many cherry leaves, but the tea is wonderful and I would like to increase the dose :) Someone made from autumn leaves when the cherry is already dropping its foliage? It would be ideal, otherwise the heart breaks, following the leaves.
Tomorrow I go to the forest to the plots for a raspberry leaf and I need to collect a currant leaf - all the same, this year the frost on Trinity killed all the inflorescences and there is no harvest outright throughout the district, but at least henna for white and red currants.

Someone made from autumn leaves when the cherry is already shedding foliage? It would be ideal, otherwise the heart breaks, following the leaves.

I did, everything is fine, only the autumn leaves are rough, a freezer is required.

I did, everything is fine, only the autumn leaves are rough, a freezer is required.

Thank you, I will repeat the experiment.
Speaking of the freezer, a pear with a freezer turns out to be more fragrant or no difference, or maybe worse? Here in a neighboring village there is an ownerless pear 10 meters high, I don’t know the variety, small, thin, glossy leaves with a thin leg, so they gave such a fragrant tea, it looks like a simple rural pear, without family and tribe.

Thank you, I will repeat the experiment.
Speaking of the freezer, a pear with a freezer turns out to be more fragrant or no difference, or maybe worse?

Now I make all the teas through the freezer according to Zachariah's recipe. The tea is tastier and more aromatic.

Thank you, sinful, I have not read Zachariah, there is no time for everything. I only read that a freezer is needed for currants and raspberries. We need to tighten our tails.

Now I make all the teas through the freezer according to Zachariah's recipe. The tea is tastier and more aromatic.

As usual, the question in our tea making is controversial and very individual! Personally, I am a categorical opponent of the freezer! And the fermentation is not going well, and the aromas are not at all the same as in fresh raw materials, and this soft-nasty frozen mash is not to my liking! But again, this is my personal opinion, different from the generally accepted one! But I personally really like steamed teas from Zacharias! Soaring transforms mulberries especially beyond recognition and soaring is very friendly with raspberries!

[Nadyushich]

Nadyushich, something I missed here's a moment. When we talk about freezing or hardening, we mean any leaf other than fireweed, but is it desirable to freeze it? I'm trying to find the info now, I don't see it yet ...

It makes no sense to freeze fireweed, Luda always wrote about this! It lends itself well to processing. In general, the freezer was initially used only to facilitate grinding of tough raw materials, then Zakhary suggested using the freeze-thaw method to transform the aromatic and taste properties of the pear, well, but people now shove everything that gets into the freezer ... something like that. (I follow the topic from the first day and practice it too)