Saturday, February 23, 2019

I haven’t posted in awhile. I guess you can say I have been kind of disappointed in my meads. Thus far, I have made 4 batches:

• Lavender blueberry
• Coffee vanilla bochet
• Gingerbread bochet
• Oatmeal chocolate bochet

Of the first three batches, I absolutely LOVED the coffee bochet. Others tasted it and I got quite a few compliments. But when I brought them home for my family to taste over the holidays, they all preferred the gingerbread. Indeed, when I tasted them then (I hadn’t had any for a month or two), I found that the coffee bochet had gotten quite bitter and heavy tasting, like an imperial stout. I actually quite liked the gingerbread but really liked the blueberry. I had initially worried that the blueberry was too “medicinal” tasting. Perhaps it has mellowed out over time – that’s what I’ve always read.

After the holidays I made an oatmeal chocolate bochet. I think that might be the last bochet I make for awhile. I’m disappointed how the bitterness sets in over time. And making it is a pain in the butt. Also, I will probably not use oatmeal again. It does add a bit of a umami characteristic, but it is tough to notice and doesn’t really outweigh how difficult it is to work with. Time will tell – maybe it will surprise me and get really good. But right now, the verdict is MEH. The chocolate flavor didn’t really materialize.

So, today I decided to make another batch of the lavender blueberry. I’m gonna dig up the recipe and try again. We’ll see.