Rocky Mountain Red Metheglin

(1 gallon/3.8 L)

Ingredients

3 lbs. (1.4 kg) orange blossom honey
1 cinnamon stick
1/8 tsp. (about 1/2 g) ground cloves
2 tsp. (10 g) fresh grated orange zest
2 large oranges, juiced
8 Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger tea bags
1 tsp. (5 g) pectic enzyme
1 tsp. (5 g) acid blend
1-1/2 cups (360 mL) orange juice
1 tsp. (5 grams) yeast nutrient
1 pkg. Montrachet yeast (5 to 7 g)
1/4 tsp. (1 g) grape tannin

Step by Step

Heat to 175 °F (80 °C) a mixture of honey and water (1 part honey to 2 parts water) in a large non-reactive pot and hold for 10 minutes. Add tea, fruit, and spices and hold another 5 minutes. Cool and transfer to a two-gallon plastic container. Add the acid, the pectic enzyme and water to make a gallon. Add the campden tablet and let the mixture sit, well-covered, for 24 hours. Make a yeast starter culture by combining the yeast and yeast nutrient with the tepid orange juice. Cover, shake vigorously and let stand until bubbly (1 to 3 hours), then add to the must. Add the tannin. Allow to ferment. Rack after the most vigorous fermentation into a one gallon, airlocked fermenter. Rack into another airlocked fermenter in 3 months and again in 6 months. Rack again just before bottling, about a year after fermentation started. Bottle and cork and store for 6 months in a cool cellar.