Can you Make Wine from Tea ? / Tea Wine Recipe

Can you make wine from tea bags ? Why yes! We had our first attempt and recorded the efforts - this is certainly something we'll be looking at experimenting more with, although it wasn't 100% brilliant it's perfectly drinkable and we've come away with a few pointers for the next batch so stay tuned for the next attempt !
If you're interested in having a go at brewing some Apple Cider Vinegar, check out our videos here: • How to Make Apple Cide...
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[@davidcmarr]

I used to home brew beer. I ended up with about 30 crates worth because I liked the brewing more than the drinking. Brewing is super fun.

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Actually I can totally see that happening with us - lol!

[@mdspider]

Try Earl Grey and Jasmine tea. They make great tea wines. I use approximately 10 tea bags per gallon. Also honey is a good substitute for sugar to make a mead. Cheers.

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Oh yeah we're pretty keen to try mead at some stage once our bees ramp up their production - thanks for the tip!

[@johngy40]

Like the elvis look

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

lol - you mean the way I'm looking at the glass?

[@zalibecquerel3463]

Great video! I'm not sure if you have fruit trees, but if ever you get a bumper harvest, fruit wines are delicious. I used to use the technique of doing a "primary ferment" for a week or so, then "racking" the wine i.e. siphoning into a new, clean fermenter, leaving the yeast dregs behind. I'd do this every few months. I was far too lazy to bottle (so much cleaning), so I acquired a heap of 5 L glass demi johns and stored it in those. The rule for fruit wine is "if you taste it and don't like it... let it sit for another year and try it again". My favourites were lychee, and strawberry. All fruit purchased very cheaply from a market on a Sunday afternoon before the vendor was going to throw it out.

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Oh that's such a good idea! We do have a lot of fruit trees planted but have very poor quality soil where we are so although we get some it's never really enough to make a lot in bulk - although we also forage where we can and often mange to obtain blackberries, plums and apples over summer so might have to give this a go when we can!

[@jvp9703]

Apparently tea wine is supposed to taste better after 1 year. Would be interesting to see how the flavours develop.

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Yeah we've been testing it each month - I think we may have gone wrong somewhere but the flavours haven't changed too much so far (Clint still likes it, I'm not so much a fan lol)

[@NicLarcher]

I used Red rose orange pekoe 50 bags, 10 pounds of white sugar in a 6 gallon bucket and after 4 weeks it tasted like scotch. Almost like a peat taste. Very interesting. I’m letting it sit in a Demi John now for another 3 weeks

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Oh interesting - since doing this video I've been playing with different fruit wines and have learnt quite a lot, it's a fun process 🙂

[@whyisthenameMOtaken]

Great video, might have to give it a go myself

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Yeah I'm looking forward to experimenting a bit more - let me know if you try it!

[@cjmills9334]

Fruit Juice wine is easy to make, tastes great, & you can also make sparkling wine! i made both often in the 70-80's using 2L tropical Juice & others. try that, I bet its better ;)

[@cjmills9334]

if its too sweet add sparkling Soda, slice of lemon & mint leaf to your glass

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Yeah I'm definitely looking into other options like that now ... I've definitely started something ... lol

[@zalibecquerel3463]

Apple cider too! Quick way of doing it is to get a large bottle of apple juice, remove half a cup of liquid, add yeast, then put an air lock on top. Drinkable cider in 5 days (or 3 days in summer).

[@captainsalmonslayer]

Just so you know for next time that hydrometer isn't telling you directly the amount of alcohol in your brew. That is the potential alcohol based on the density of the liquid you are measuring, your sugars. You have to take an initial reading before you begin fermentation then another to compare it to. For example your first reading before fermentation begins is 15% potential alcohol, you check again in a week and it now reads 5% potential alcohol so you have ~10% alcohol in your brew. Keep checking until you get two readings a week or so apart that are the same then you can conclude fermentation has completed. Bottling before this risks very messy bottle bombs if it continues to ferment in the bottles and pressure builds.

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Yeah thanks for that - been learning a lot since this video and had a few more goes with fruit wines, got a bit more of a grasp of it now but still learning lol ... in all reality I'm not sure we made anything more than flavoured sugar water with that tea experiment!

[@wfqsfg]

There is a spigot on that bucket. I've got one like it. When you use it no need to siphon. As you can see in the video, it is above the dead yeast at the bottom of the bucket. You probably already learned this, bread yeast (active yeast) has a low alcohol tolerance. If you want it less sweet then either use a wine yeast with a higher tolerance or just use less sugar but your alcohol % will be lower. I can't tell how much you made. It looks like an American 5 gal bucket. You might have had a potential alcohol of aprox 16-17% and the bread yeast probably only fermented to around 8-10%. So the unfermented sugar made it sweet. There are a lot of instructional videos on KZbin. That is how I learned.

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Yep we've learned a lot since making this video ... also been experimenting with fruit wines too & had much better success so will be working on some of those for videos during the year 👍

[@wfqsfg]

@@CheaperWaysNZ Good luck and happy brewing. I started out with Apple wine just using store bought apple juice.

[@cpranav88]

There is more sugar than yiest could handle, hence its sweet... May be little less sugar next time and then back sweeten it once fermentation is done...

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Yeah I think we did a few things wrong in this experiment ... been having lessons from someone who's very good with their fruit wine making lately and did a vide on feijoa wine - it's working a lot better!

[@nmarie360]

You two are amazing! Hilarious! Sounds like some soda water and lemon slices...ice cubes would be perfect for a refreshing summer drink....wonder what you would name it? 🤣Have you tried making beer?

[@nmarie360]

Ps. Im too scared to try to make Kombucha!! Ive heard of horrendous explosive tales....would love to hear if you have given this a go...I spend a small fortune on fancy Kombucha bottles!

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Yeah I ended up pairing it with ice cubes and tonic water and it wasn't bad! I'm skeptical we read our alcohol tester right though as I don't think it's alcoholic at all! Never tried beer ... I think next we might try some kind of fruity wine. I have actually had a few people say I should try Kombucha but still haven't got around to that one. Just got a batch of apple cider vinegar on the go the other day though (that'll occupy a few more bottles in a few months!)

[@ruedersculinaryinstitute9468]

Very cool and interesting project. Thank you for sharing this experiment! Best greetings!

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Thanks ... looking forward to more experimenting too!

[@garthwilliams9734]

Very interesting. I do like dessert wine. Garth

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Yeah I'm looking forward to playing with the next batch!

[@zalibecquerel3463]

Sweet wines are great. The trick is, if there's any sugar in the bottle, it will ferment (ie, just turn into alcohol and carbon dioxide gas). A way around this is to kill all the yeast (using something called a "Campden Tablet), then sweeten with syrup or juice.

[@mindyours752]

You may not believe me but I want you to try this. It will blow your mind. Being I made this on accident. In trying to make normal tea I can just drink on a regular basis. I tend to blend these tea bags: Peppermint, Ginger, Chamomile, and Apple. Before doing so I normally fill up the teapot. I add in the 4 tea bags. I add a slight dash of ginger and a dash of cinnamon. I like to clean an orange and peel the orange and squeeze the orange juice into the pot and throw the orange peels inside because the peels have a lot of nutrients in them. Then add a bit of lemon juice in the pot as well. I turn the fire on high for the kettle and come back like 15 mins when I know the tea should be done. I take out the tea bags. Throw them away. Yet I use 100% pure honey and add a good amount into it and stir while everything is in the pot. Then I take a container one for the fridge and one for when I'm just relaxing and want a ssip. Yet I put a sifter on top of each and so non of the pulp or skin falls into either container. I like to add a bit more water into my teas so I use unheated water not tap but store bought and add like the 3/4 the amount of regular water then what was used for the tea and add that water for both containers. I later got a tall can of coconut milk. I then poured and equal amount into each container. I tend to buy the one with the pulp. So I use a sifter to not let the pulp fall inside of each. Then one goes in the fridge; while the other just sits on my table for when I want a swig. Now to my story. Everything from my perspective seemed normal. Just tea made a slightly normal way with other things for zest and flavor. So I go away for like a week. I completely forgot my container at home with my tea in it. It was scorching hot but I usually have the AC on when I'm home but since I wasn't my room was just blazing hot. I come back and open the tea. I hear the crisp sound as if air was trying to escape the bottle. To me which is weird because only carbonated drinks do that. So I sniff the tea just to be sure its okay. I go to the kitchen and get a glass and bring out my sifter. Just to make sure nothing funny was going on in my container. Last thing you want to do is ssip and swallow something weird. So I pour the tea into the glass cup through the sifter. Nothing was on the sifter but to my shock there was a lot of foam as I poured the tea from the cup. I said hmmm I used natural ingredients so nothing crazy about having a taste. It had a kick to it and tasted stronger but reminded me of like apple cider wine but slightly different. Thinking nothing of it I drank the whole thing and moments later felt light. In a god way. I came to the realization I was a tad bit buzzed. I then realized in that very moment I discovered how to make wine in the easiest simplest method possible. I did not need yeast. I didnt need any special containers. It was just the basic simple instructions I mentioned before. Basically as long as you do not chill it/ put in the fridge. It will ferment naturally and eventually turn into wine. I did an experiment for just keeping it in a warm area for 2 weeks and it turned to unbelievable wine. All it took was some tea bags, natural honey, coconut milk, lemon juice, ginger, cinnamon, some unheated bottled water, and a squeezed orange and some orange peels and I made me wine. It was 1 of the best mistakes I've ever made lol

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Oh that sounds pretty cool thanks for sharing!! We stored ours for a bit longer in the bottles as I still wasn't entirely convinced of the taste and to be honest still not 100%, but next time I'll definitely be looking at doing something more fruity rather than plain wine - will have to take note of your recipe!!

[@mindyours752]

@@CheaperWaysNZ It was 1 of those unsuspected pleasant surprises. I truly believe you'll be impressed by how simple it was/is to create.

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

@@mindyours752 I'll let you know how we get on it sounds yummy 😊👍

[@growtocycle6992]

Try adding a bit of ginger and lemon. Less sugar. I have used an old 3L just juice bottle successfully several times. , but so wonder how alcoholic it actually is

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Yeah we're actually pretty convinced it wasn't as alcoholic as we first thought it was (helps to learn how to read the hydrometer lol!) ... I'm actually getting some fruit wine making lessons off a lady who's been doing it for years so getting better results now! Will post videos in due course when I'm a bit more confident 🙂

[@Kira-dj8dj]

Hello, fermentation expert, I have a question for you, if you allow me. I fermented a liter of natural grape juice, added 250 grams of sugar, and used wild yeast. I know that the amount of sugar is large, but what are the expected results? Note that it has 17 days in the fermentation container and it has not finished yet! I would love to hear advice from you, thank you

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Sorry I'd love to say I'm an expert but I'm really not! I'm really just playing around myself (recently did a video on Feijoa wine using a recipe a friend gave me if you wanted to have a look at that as a bit of a better guide). However it does sound like something's happening with the grapes ... just wait until it finishes fermenting and see what the results are ... fingers crossed!!

[@Kira-dj8dj]

@@CheaperWaysNZ still u r expert on something else, thx a lot 🌹

[@thsikezierkojo4991]

nice !use wine yeast next with a fruit juice starter of choice and some lemon.

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Yeah we'll probably try something fruity next time 👍

[@kevanjones6414]

I made tea wine 🍷 with my Mum as a kid. Also gooseberry. Dandelion. And a few others. Some of my best memories are going picking to make wine or jam's. Tea wine will put you on your butt. If made right 😅😅😅😅

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

haha - I'm not sure I did this batch entirely right but have been playing a lot with fruit wine since - good fun 😀

So, a slightly tea-flavoured sugar wash?

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

lol ... we felt pretty smart at the time, but yeah we've learned much in the years since this video (even won some award for fruit wines at our local A&P show)! I recommend checking out my Feijoa Wine video 😀👍

@@CheaperWaysNZ Cool!

[@Balamurali-dp9lx]

Alcohol percentage?? Medam.

[@CheaperWaysNZ]

Honestly this was our first attempt at wine making and although we thought we could read the percentage at the time in retrospect I don't there was much alcohol at all in it! I've learned quite a bit since then and been experimenting with fruit wines with much more success lol Will be doing a video on our other more successful attempts soon 😊