Fruit T bag wine

[Polly Fouracre]

Ordinary, Indian tea bag wine must be one of the nicest and cheapest wines to make.

[Two_Sheds]

My "Shirley" wine (Twinings Raspberry, Cranberry & Loganberry) is ready for bottling: my goodness it's moreish. It's pink and sweet and looks perfect for summer BBQs


the Morrisons Plum & Pomegranate tea wine is coming along very nicely too. I might even say that they are nicer than the wines made with real fruit.

[shirlthegirl43]

Glad to read you are enjoying your hobby Two_Sheds

[Rhona]

I'm going to give this a bash, if only because I've got all the stuff and it's better than my demi-johns sitting empty. Plus everyone says it's so nice. Plus I need to practice on something before we have all the pears to use up come the Autumn.

I'll report back, but not before I've asked a hundred daft wine-making questions probably, so thanks in advance, Shirl.

[mrdinkle]

I am going to have a go too. This sounds really nice. Plus, once the OH is allowed to sip again I think she might actually like it!

[Rhona]

I am going to have a go too. This sounds really nice. Plus, once the OH is allowed to sip again I think she might actually like it!

My midwife advised me to have nice glass of wine once I was approaching my due-date. She told us to set up the pool (we were planning home water birth), fill it with nice warm water and chill with a glass of wine. I can't tell you how pleased I was to get that advice

When is your little one due? Have you got time to knock out a bit of Shirley's tea-bag wine before the big day? After abstaining for so long, it will taste like one of 'the finest wines available to humanity' (the penny's just dropped with your signature line thing).

[mrdinkle]

OH is due 21st, however due to complications (OC) she is going to be induced on the 8th. So, unfortunately not enough time to complete this. However, I have 5 bottles of shirlthegirl recipe tinned rhubarb wine stored - nice sweet wine).

OH already told me that once she can express (to have the odd night off), she wants some 7 year old Havana Club. A fine choice.

I could quote that film all day long! My fav quote is:

Come on lads, let's get home, the sky's beginning to bruise, night must fall and we shall be forced to camp

[Rhona]

I've just done a first racking and it seems really nice - far nicer than my damson wine (only one I've tried) at such an early stage. It's very dry though. I've added some sugar (boiled in some water), but the blipping has stopped. Have I starved the yeast and killed it by not adding enough sugar?

And Mr D, LOADS of luck to you and Mrs D tomorrow - can't wait to hear your exciting news! Hope it all goes well.

[mrdinkle]

Thanks again Rhona - will report back when I can. She's finally resting - too belligerent to listen to me up til now.

[Two_Sheds]

It's very dry though.

that's odd - my batch was really sweet.

Bottled now, and left to "mature" (while I try and lose half a stone)

[Rhona]

that's odd - my batch was really sweet.

Bottled now, and left to "mature" (while I try and lose half a stone)

Yeah but... I didn't put enough sugar in to start with (ran out halfway through...) which is why I did a first racking quite early on to see how it was shaping up. It did taste nice, and I don't THINK it's ruined yet, otherwise I would have thought it would have tasted vile.

I also did something that I wasn't going to confess too, but what the heck. I really love Lapsang Souchong, and thought a smoky, woody note would be nice, so I threw in one bag of that too. It's nice! Not overpowering, very subtle, but nice.

Your bottles look good. I'd like to hear how the matured ones turn out.

[Rhona]

I've just bottled this. It tastes ok - quite like a rose. I must have messed up the racking though as there's quite a bit of sediment in the bottles. Is that likely to ruin any further maturation in the bottles, or will it be ok if stored and poured carefully?

[mrdinkle]

I am doing this now, just a quick Q....

Do we top up to 1 gallon (4.5 litre) with cooled boiled water?

Smells proper nice

[shirlthegirl43]

I've just bottled this. It tastes ok - quite like a rose. I must have messed up the racking though as there's quite a bit of sediment in the bottles. Is that likely to ruin any further maturation in the bottles, or will it be ok if stored and poured carefully?

Sorry for the late reply but I think I would pour it back into the dj and re-bottle. if it is only one bottle affected, drink it first and leave the others if you want to age it.

I am doing this now, just a quick Q....

Do we top up to 1 gallon (4.5 litre) with cooled boiled water?

Smells proper nice

Yup but make sure your SG is right

[Two_Sheds]

Yup but make sure your SG is right

If it's not right, top up with sugar dissolved in boiled water.

Shirl, I took a small bottle into school, and the teacher who 'won' it said it was absolutely delicious, what was it made from?
They didn't believe me when I said herbal tea