recipes for Heather Ale and Heather Tea

[skydove]

I've been doing some research on heather and here are 2 fairy easy recipes to make, heather is meant to be a restorative so both should be good for you! The first one is an ancient scottish recipe which the Allowa Brewery now use to make into Heather Ale though it seems more like Wine to me. The second one is a proper tea as in a fermented tea.

TRADITIONAL RECIPE FOR HEATHER WINE.
1 ½Ibs. Heather Tips (in full bloom)
1 Gallon water
3-4 lbs. Sugar (according to sweetness desired)
2 Lemons
2 Oranges
1 teasp. dried yeast
1 teasp. yeast nutrient.

Cover heather with the water and boil for one hour. Strain off liquid and measure. Restore to one gallon, and add sugar. Stir until completely dissolved. When the temperature drops to 70F, add yeast and nutrient. Leave for 14 days. Then strain into fermentation jar, and when fermentation ceases, strain and bottle. Keep for at least six months!

HEATHER TEA
Gather the flowering heather and after breaking off the hard woody pieces, spread it in a cool open space and leave for approximately 12 - 16 hours. This should, in theory, allow a slight wither to take place - but with heather having a hard leaf, this is not too noticeable.

Put the heather into a liquidiser and bruise and break-up the heather as much as possible. After this spread thinly in a cool place and leave for a minimum of 3 hours to allow a ferment to take place. This should be apparent from a darkening of the mash. After this, put into an oven, temperature 200-250F until the heather is dry and crisp. The tea retains its misty mauve colour and looks attractive. Used on its own, the product gives a thin liquor. Mixed in equal parts with ordinary tea however, it gives a much stronger flavoursome brew. This is a proper tea - not herbs masquerading as tea.

[t.wallace]

Great post, i never would have guessed that you could use heather for a wine or tea for that matter.