Honey wine (T’ej)

This recipe is a “wild ferment” from Wild Fermentation, by Sandor Ellix Katz. If you enjoy this recipe and want to explore wild ferments in more depth, take a look at his website at Wild Fermentation or you can buy his book through Amazon. I’ve halved the recipe for your first experiment.

• 1 1/2 cups honey, preferably unheated
• 6 cups filtered water

Stir together the honey and the water, in a large bowl or jar, till the honey’s dissolved. Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave in a warm room for a few days. Stir at least twice a day. Yeasts will be drawn to the honey-water from the air – that’s what makes it a “wild” ferment.

Depending on the weather and how warm the room is, the mix will become bubbly and fragrant after 3-4 days. Transfer to clean bottles with screw top lids or caps. Add a little extra honey water in the same ratio, if needed, to fill each bottle.

This now needs to ferment for 2-4 weeks, with gas able to escape, without letting air in. The easiest way to do this is to get a bag of balloons and stretch one over each bottle top. Periodically let the gas out of each balloon. When the gas slows down, the wine is ready. Cap the bottles, or screw the tops on and the wine is ready to go. Drink within a few weeks. If you want to store it for longer, you may want to siphon into a clean bottles, leaving the sediment behind.