iN VIDEO: Kamloops forager uses dandelions to make mead
Dandelions are considered a weed by some and are prevalent in backyards everywhere, but Kamloops forager is finding a useful purpose for them.
Marshall Krasser has a gallon jug with dandelion flowers, yeast and honey fermenting under a sink. He has also added some lemon juice to the mixture that will take roughly six weeks to become dandelion mead.
While he has picked young dandelion leaves to add to his salads, it is the first time he has tried making mead. He went to a do-your-own wine shop and got a gallon jug, a stopper, a water blocker and yeast for the project.
“The hardest part was picking all the dandelion flowers. You have to pluck all the little yellow petals out because the green part would make the mead bitter,” he said. “It took quite a bit of effort to get a cupful.”
Krasser has been learning about edible and medicinal plants this year after attending a workshop on foraging with a Kamloops permaculture group called Made with Love.
“In the process of researching foraging I looked out my window and saw so many dandelions blooming, I thought, what can I do with dandelions? There has to be some use for them,” he said.
“It’s amazing how much stuff is actually out there that you can eat, and often in your own backyard. With foraging, you have a very limited window to get them.”
Mead is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented honey, water and yeast or bacteria that has been made across the world for thousands of years, according to Healthline. Ingredients including fruits, herbs, roots and flowers are often included in the mixture.
The alcohol content and flavour profiles mead ranges widely, and both sparkling and still versions are made.
Some believe drinking mead has health benefits, but there is little evidence of that.
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Krasser enjoys drinking mead for the taste.
“Mead has a different kind of taste that is hard to describe, it’s good,” he said. “Every kind is made with honey, that’s how it ferments, the yeast feeds off the honey. If I could source wild honey, it would be even better.”
Krasser shows viewers how to make mead on his YouTube channel and provides a recipe at the end.
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