So, few months ago, I came across this blog:
http://teacology.wordpress.com/2012/12/ ... nt-page-1/
I really liked the Idea of trying to oxidise herbs in a similar manner as black teas, but it was winter back then, so I had no material to work with. Today I noticed on my morning walk that black raspberries have just started developing buds and young leaves. I picked a small basket, and, following the advice on the blog, I rolled leaves with my fingers and cut them a bit, to help with the oxidation process. Now I left them to rest in a dark and humid place. The whole process up to now was very much improvised, I haven't weighed the leaves or measured the temperature and humidity of my cellar (where I left my batch).
I will be reporting back with report of this experiment. I hope to end up with something that resembles black tea, but I don't want to be too optimistic.
Have you ever had an oxidised herbal? If so, how was it? Or maybe somewhere around the world such herbals are quite common? Have you got any suggestons for plants that could work well oxidised? Or maybe thoughts on why this might or might not work?
Re: Oxidised herbals?
Honestly, I think this is a brilliant idea. Hopefully you see this post and come back and give us an update. I've always been curious as to why certain other things haven't been cultivated like tea is. I may just try this myself.
Re: Oxidised herbals?
This is a subject I've been considering lately related to coffee leaf tea (or tisane, if you must, but according to some dictionary definitions the words mean the exact same thing). That product might ring a bell related to Wize Monkey producing a version from Central American leaves that was well publicized at the World Tea Expo last year (2015).
I asked one of the company owners about degree of oxidation for that product, and he only said they were experimenting further with different levels. I've heard indirectly it was supposed to be 50% oxidized, but who knows what to make of that really. The tisane was nice, for what it's worth, distinctive.
I've talked to someone since not producing that same type of product in Indonesia, and raised the subject again. Based on seeing posts about Wize Monkey products it looks like they are either oxidizing the tea more or using a roasting step to darken it, both of which would shift the flavor profile in different ways. I was also just experimenting with making papaya leaf tisane, not yet with oxidizing it, since I'm only one batch in, but the ideas did seem to naturally connect. Any more input from anyone about this subject?
I asked one of the company owners about degree of oxidation for that product, and he only said they were experimenting further with different levels. I've heard indirectly it was supposed to be 50% oxidized, but who knows what to make of that really. The tisane was nice, for what it's worth, distinctive.
I've talked to someone since not producing that same type of product in Indonesia, and raised the subject again. Based on seeing posts about Wize Monkey products it looks like they are either oxidizing the tea more or using a roasting step to darken it, both of which would shift the flavor profile in different ways. I was also just experimenting with making papaya leaf tisane, not yet with oxidizing it, since I'm only one batch in, but the ideas did seem to naturally connect. Any more input from anyone about this subject?