Should Epic Green Tea be rateable?

says it’s fermented green tea. Not clear what the fermentable is. Says infused with fruit juices AFTER fermentation. Sugar? Honey? Fruit juice? Is it an FMB? (It’s 5% abv)

Which bit of “Epic Green Tea” says “beer”?

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“Epic Green Tea is an alcoholic beverage that uses only real ingredients. Non-GMO, gluten free and organic ingredients makes this an Epic beverage!”

“Epic T Green Tea is created with pure, sweet juices”

Not even an indication there’s any brewing that results in alcohol. Could be like the various hard drinks made with alcohol and flavors.

Green tea used to be considered unfermented (it was - black tea was fermented) - but things get wonky these days and “fermented green tea extract” is out there - whatever it is.

On the side it says " honey hibiscus naturally flavored beer". Calvert Woodley Liquors sells nicely priced grab bag packs of beer and this was the only questionable one.

“Fermented” w.r.t. tea doesn’t really mean “fermented”, it’s more just “aged” or “oxidised”. (Which is ironic, as the more general use of the term fermentation refers to anaerobic processes.)

Fermented tea (also known as post-fermented tea or dark tea ) is a class of [tea] that has undergone microbial [fermentation] from several months to many years."

"The fermentation is carried out primarily by molds. "

I’ll see your wackypedia quote, and raise you:
“To produce black tea, withered leaves are subjected to crushing, tearing, cutting (CTC) or rolling operations to achieve faster oxidation. This causes extensive damage to the cell walls of the leaves. As the oxidation process is started officially, the bruises in the leaves get exposed to oxygen and gradual browning of the leaves start. More the tea is bruised and crushed, the more mixing of the polyphenols and polyphenol oxidases happen. This accelerates the pace of oxidation. Now it is obvious that this process which requires abundant moist, oxygen-rich air does not fulfil any of the criteria of fermentation. Hence using the term ‘fermentation’ in place of oxidation in this context is not appropriate.” – https://www.myassamtea.com/production/technicals/tea-fermentation-vs-oxidation/

That is all very nice, but doesn’t tell me where the alcohol comes from :grin:

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Actually per wackypedia there are two types of fermentation - the “common” (not actual fermentation) one that produces the common black tea, and the other (actual fermentation) one that produces a more uncommon in the West not-exactly-black tea.

" Thus, the various kinds of fermented teas produced across China are also referred to as dark tea, not be confused with [black tea]. The most famous fermented tea is [Pu-erh], produced in [Yunnan Province]and the [Anhua dark tea] produced in [Anhua County] of [Hunan Province].

The fermentation of tea leaves alters their chemistry, affecting the [organoleptic] qualities of the tea made from them. Fermentation affects the [smell] of the tea and typically mellows its taste, reducing astringency and bitterness while improving [mouthfeel] and aftertaste. The microbes may also produce metabolites with health benefits."

And to pound this topic into the ground:

" Fermented teas can be divided according to how they are produced. Piled teas, such as the Chinese post-fermented teas, and the Toyama kurocha produced in Japan, are fermented with naturally occurring fungus under relatively dry conditions. Other fermented teas, called pickled teas, are fermented in a wet process with lactic acid bacteria. Pickled teas include [miang] from Thailand and [awabancha] from Japan. A third category, including the Japanese [Goishicha]and Ishizuchi-kurocha, is fermented with the piled and pickling methods successively."

So I’m thinking Epic Green Tea will not qualify until we equate making alcohol with sugar to brewing with honey. If the company had anything “brewing” going for it, I’m sure they’d be bragging about that natural process. Although I have confidence they only use the best sugar.

I think green tea is underestimated.

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