• Members of the previous forum can retrieve their temporary password here, (login and check your PM).

Finally found what to do with the solids

Migrated topic.
Jagube

Jagube

Esteemed member
Something I have discovered recently and confirmed on two occasions - one with MHRB tea and the other with ACRB tea.

To help you visualize this, I'll use some numbers which may not necessarily be the actual numbers used, but the ratios are maintained.

In brief:
- I let my 300ml bottle of egg-white-filtered and reduced tea settle overnight. The solids fell to the bottom as a sediment, leaving the brew clear (but obviously red).
- I separated the sediment from the liquid by decanting / filtering.
- I transferred the solids into a pan, added water and vinegar, and 'cooked' them for 10 minutes
- I filtered the solids out and kept the liquid. The volume was 300ml, just like the first bottle.
- I did a subjective side-by-side comparison by drinking 10ml of the first bottle, and 10ml of the second bottle a few days later.

Both had the same subjective potency, and in the second experiment (with ACRB) the second bottle even felt slightly stronger than the first.

This would indicate that the solids contain roughly as much actives as the liquid, even though volume-wise they only constitute a small fraction of the bottle's contents.

It therefore doesn't seem to be wise to discard them. At the same time, eating them is a crapshoot as you don't know the concentration and it's hard to measure them and remember what that 'pinch' was that sent you to the orbit the other day.
This simple procedure removes that unknown from the equation and gives you more tea.

The procedure could probably be iterated more times to yield even more tea, but I'm happy with doing it just once - it already doubles the value I get for my efforts.
 
...- I let my 300ml bottle of egg-white-filtered and reduced tea settle overnight.
Click to expand...
Jugabe, just to understand it correctly:
you did filter the egg whites out, and then let settle overnight only to find some sediments they day after?
Or did you not filter out the egg whites and let everything settle overnight together?
Just wondering if the egg whites were cooked in a second run.
Thanks.
 
Jagube said:
I transferred the solids into a pan, added water and vinegar, and 'cooked' them for 10 minutes
Click to expand...
This I would consider an essential step with this method. Doing so is fundamentally prudent chemical practice.

Thanks for doing the experiment and confirming the heretofore voiced suspicions that egg white filtering absorbs some of the actives. And, it seems, quite a considerable amount. Nice work.
 
Jees said:
...- I let my 300ml bottle of egg-white-filtered and reduced tea settle overnight.
Click to expand...
Jugabe, just to understand it correctly:
you did filter the egg whites out, and then let settle overnight only to find some sediments they day after?
Click to expand...
Yes, I did filter the egg whites out. Would the fact I found sediment the day after suggest I did not use enough egg whites?
 
Jagube said:
...Would the fact I found sediment the day after suggest I did not use enough egg whites?
Click to expand...
I don't know for sure, but any kind of brew used to make some sediments.
Were the sediments you found the day after resembling the sediments you took out the day before? If they look alike they probably are alike.

This menu I picked from another forum, poster was an experienced brewer:
1. First of all, never do this on a reduced brew, but only on the portions that are not reduced.
2. Use one egg white (NO YOLKS!) per quart or liter.
3. Make sure your brew is slightly acidic (or it won't work right - at least ph6)
4. Add the one egg white to your quart/liter of unreduced brew and whisk with a whisk.
5. The egg whites will turn the brew cloudy. Boil for about 5 minutes or so until you can see the brew clearly separate into a totally clear golden fraction. This happens rather suddenly as soon as the egg whites become fully cooked. If it doesn't make a clear separation despite cooking thoroughly past 8 minutes, you should add a little vinegar and it will force separation.
6.Filter the brew through cloth or coffee filter and discard the pinkish- colored egg whites (the pink is the color of the tannins). This is very simple, since the egg whites are cooked and won't clog the filter. Do not try to proceed to filtration unless YOU HAVE ACHIEVED separation in step 5! This will clog your filter, and you'll know you did it wrong. The brew should filter through as easily as water!

Do 1-6 for each quart of unreduced brew, then reduce as normal.
Click to expand...

So there you have a direction about how many egg white to use.
Step 4 I did in a non hot brew. So it all turns into a 'milk'.
 
tregar said:
What kind of filtering are you using to get the solids out?
Click to expand...
First I ran it through a cloth. Then I may have run it through coffee filters after reducing it a bit more. But I'm not sure, it was a while back.

I think the solids that subsequently settled overnight were not egg white particles, but rather the usual plant stuff.

Thanks Jees, I had seen that egg-white tannin removal guide, but IIRC I intentionally used fewer egg whites than suggested so as to keep more goodies in, and I don't really mind the tannins that much.
 
I've noticed that freezing/thawing a Mimosa or Acacia tea can precipitate out the tannins and such without needing to use egg whites, but filtering is still a pain because the fine particles seem to merge back into the water as i'm filtering, if i could find a way around that then freezing/thawing would be useful i think.
 
Chemists would use celite to assist in such a tricky filtration. It's basically the same as diatomaceous earth and will help the fine particles to stick together.
 
ShamensStamen said:
I've noticed that freezing/thawing a Mimosa or Acacia tea can precipitate out the tannins and such without needing to use egg whites, but filtering is still a pain because the fine particles seem to merge back into the water as i'm filtering, if i could find a way around that then freezing/thawing would be useful i think.
Click to expand...
I've also noticed this. It is easier to decant the liquid without disturbing the sediment than to filter it. Then you reboil all your sediment, freeze and decant again if you want to get all the goods. Works with root barks and vine, but not rue.

Also if memory serves, refreezing and thawing the same brew a few times makes the solids get more and more clumpy and easier to remove.
 
Back
Top Bottom