FIRST STEPS
June 13, 2005
by: jovial_cynic
by: jovial_cynic
I happen to have tons of mint leaves in my backyard, so I grabbed a bunch of mint stalks and decided to see what I could do with that. I've never heard of mint wine, and in truth, I can't imagine that it'll be all that great... but whatever. It's my first attempt.
Generally, I think folks will follow the directions when they make their first batch, but no... not me. If I think I have the general idea of how it works, I'll branch out and try something completely different. The paper I read on wine making said that anything from grapes to tree bark to dandylion flower petals could be used... so why not mint?
The only thing I didn't have in my list of ingredients was good yeast... so I went the route of prison wine, and just used an old hotdog bun. hopefully that'll work ok. Here's my setup:
Wine batch (officially called the "must"):
Chopped Leaves from 10 stalks of mint plant
1 cup of sugar
1 lime
1 tblspoon of rice
Yeast starter solution:
1/2 hotdog bun
3 tblspoons of sugar
1/2 cup of water
1. bring the wine batch to a boil to reduce some of the water and soften the leaves. Boil for about 10 minutes.
2. mix yeast starter solution together in a separate bowl and let sit for 1 hour in a covered bowl.
3. let the wine batch cool for 1 hour after boiling.
4. pour the wine batch into a very clean Sobe bottle. Pour in the yeast starter solution and mix it up.
5. cover the bottle with a black sock (to trap warmth) and make sure the top of the bottle is covered, but not sealed (CO2 needs to escape).
6. let sit for 3 days and then check it to see if it's doing anything.
That's what I'm working with, anyway. An old hot dog bun, an old Sobe bottle, and mint. I added a tblspoon of rice just for fun, really. I like the idea of making a little rice-wine, for the sake of my culture, even though the only rice-wine I've ever had was absolutely disgusting. But maybe it's because it wasn't sweet enough... I like sweet things.
Anyhow, the boiling of the mint leaves, lime, and sugar made my whole house smell like mint, which was pleasant. Hopefully it'll stay pleasant smelling, althoug I expect it to get nasty. It sure looks nasty in the bottle, anyway.
Generally, I think folks will follow the directions when they make their first batch, but no... not me. If I think I have the general idea of how it works, I'll branch out and try something completely different. The paper I read on wine making said that anything from grapes to tree bark to dandylion flower petals could be used... so why not mint?
The only thing I didn't have in my list of ingredients was good yeast... so I went the route of prison wine, and just used an old hotdog bun. hopefully that'll work ok. Here's my setup:
Wine batch (officially called the "must"):
Chopped Leaves from 10 stalks of mint plant
1 cup of sugar
1 lime
1 tblspoon of rice
Yeast starter solution:
1/2 hotdog bun
3 tblspoons of sugar
1/2 cup of water
1. bring the wine batch to a boil to reduce some of the water and soften the leaves. Boil for about 10 minutes.
2. mix yeast starter solution together in a separate bowl and let sit for 1 hour in a covered bowl.
3. let the wine batch cool for 1 hour after boiling.
4. pour the wine batch into a very clean Sobe bottle. Pour in the yeast starter solution and mix it up.
5. cover the bottle with a black sock (to trap warmth) and make sure the top of the bottle is covered, but not sealed (CO2 needs to escape).
6. let sit for 3 days and then check it to see if it's doing anything.
That's what I'm working with, anyway. An old hot dog bun, an old Sobe bottle, and mint. I added a tblspoon of rice just for fun, really. I like the idea of making a little rice-wine, for the sake of my culture, even though the only rice-wine I've ever had was absolutely disgusting. But maybe it's because it wasn't sweet enough... I like sweet things.
Anyhow, the boiling of the mint leaves, lime, and sugar made my whole house smell like mint, which was pleasant. Hopefully it'll stay pleasant smelling, althoug I expect it to get nasty. It sure looks nasty in the bottle, anyway.
