Fermented Koporye tea from Ivan tea leaves

To get the real taste of this drink, the leaves of the plant must undergo a fermentation process. I will tell you in detail about how to properly prepare Koporye tea yourself in my recipe with step-by-step photos taken.

How to ferment Ivan tea

Grass collection must be carried out in sunny, dry weather. In this case, collect leaves and flowers separately. After harvesting, flowers are immediately placed in a drying container and dried at a temperature of 70 degrees.

Never wash the collected leaves.

The first stage is wilting. You can, of course, spread the grass in a small layer in a well-ventilated area, but avoid direct sunlight. But, most do not have such premises and extra space for such manipulations. Therefore, we simply take a glass jar, tightly place the grass in it, close it tightly with a lid and put it away for exactly 24 hours.

After 24 hours, you can notice that perspiration has appeared inside the jar, and the leaves have darkened slightly.

We open the jar and take out Ivan-tea from it. The foliage acquired a light, pleasant aroma, changed color and became limp.

Now you need to do the basic preparation for fermentation. To do this, “knead” the leaves. This must be done very carefully so that the structure of each leaf is disrupted and it releases juice.

Crush and crush the leaves for at least 10-20 minutes, depending on the amount of raw materials. 10 minutes was enough for me. The volume of foliage decreased by 3 times. There is a way to prepare leaves using a meat grinder. Instead of crushing the leaves, they are passed through a meat grinder and the resulting tea granules are obtained. But it is leaf tea that turns out to be more aromatic. We collect the leaves in a dense pile as in the photo and cover with a towel (preferably even several) for fermentation.

The fermentation process will last 8 hours. All this time you will have to sniff the grass so as not to miss the completion of fermentation. Please note that the higher the room temperature, the faster the process.

So, 8 hours have passed. The grass changed from dark green to green-brown and acquired a rich aroma. The main thing is not to overdo it, otherwise the foliage may turn sour.

To stop the fermentation process, drying must begin immediately. We loosen the grass and place it in electric dryer containers.

Koporye tea should be dried at a temperature of 70 degrees, stirring occasionally. You can use a regular stove and dry the tea on trays with the door open.

Well-dried tea does not have a strong aroma; this can be used as a guide when determining the degree of drying. The tea should rustle in your hands and break when squeezed.

The final step is mixing the fermented leaves and flowers of fireweed.

It is believed that tea must also undergo dry fermentation for at least a month in a tightly closed container.

During this time, Ivan tea acquires a unique taste and aroma.The longer the tea is aged, the tastier it is.

Koporye tea is stored in glass or plastic jars with tight-fitting lids. The product is stored for about 2 years.