Chi Spice & Hazel Nut Mead - started 9/1/2012

          Larri said she once brewed a Sweet Tea mead. Well that got me to thinking... I LOVE Chi tea and John and I had just found a Chi Spice Hazel Nut tea that I thought was amazing. So guess what? It got turned into a mead!!! So here is the recipe and the journey of the Chi Spice Hazel Nut Mead.

9/1/2012
Ingredients:

• 1/2 lbs of Arkansas Dark Honey
• 3 Chi Spice Hazel Nut tea bags
• 3 Chi tea bags
• 1.5 gallons purified water
• 1 2 gallon fermentation bucket and lid
• 1 air lock
• 1 packet of wine yeast
• 1 Campden tablet
• 2 teaspoons of easy clean sterilization solution
• 2 teaspoons yeast nutrients (4 days straight)

I started out by using 1 gallon of purified water to brew the 6 bags of tea. While that brewed I sterilized the 2 gallon fermentation bucket, lid and air lock. Once the tea was brewed, which smelled amazing, I poured the 1/2 lbs of honey into the hot tea so it could dissolve. I poured the tea and honey mixture into the fermentation bucket. I added the dissolved Campden tablet to the bucket as well. I placed the lib tightly onto the bucket and let sit for 24 hours.

9/2/2012
Added the yeast and 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrients. Replaced lid tightly back on the bucket.

9/3/2012
Added 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrients. Replaced lid tightly back on the bucket.

9/4/2012

Added 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrients. Replaced lid tightly back on the bucket.

9/5/2012

Added 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrients. Replaced lid tightly back on the bucket.

10/13/2012

Sterilized aging fermentation bucket. Clarity is not that great at this stage. Smells and taste are pretty good at this point. The color reminds me of honey mustard.

11/17/2012
Moved the mead over to a clean sterilized bucket. Color and clarity have changed dramatically. The color has gone from a hard honey mustard color to a deep grey-ish brown color. The clarity is really amazing compared to what it was a month ago. It has a mild sent of the Chi spices and Hazel Nut. Replaced lid and filled airlock.

1/15/2013
Moved mead over. Added 2 cups of sugar. The mead has an amazing flavor and color. This is for SURE going to become one of the big 5 gallon brews. It is AWESOME so far.

7/6/2013
Tasted the mead. It is outstanding! I will be bottling this batch in a month. The flavor is just truly amazing. The mead has cleared nearly completely. I am truly excited about this mead.

7/13/2013
Mead is now bottled. I can not believe how crystal clear this turned out. It has an amazing aroma, taste and clarity. I am so sorry I didn't make a bigger batch than this! I ended up with three 1 liter bottles. Here is one of the first bottles. This was only a 1 gallon batch.