I remember as a kid going to the beach in Coney Island and my parents would buy us creamsicles from one of the vendors on the beach. A creamsicle mead might be nice.
The thing about orange creamsicle is that the flavor is inherently artificial. Not in a bad way, orange creamsicle anything is delicious, it's just that the flavors are different than what you would get from orange zest and vanilla bean.
In trying to recreate the flavor for a beer I've found the perfect combination to be LorAnn's orange oil and the best baker's vanilla you can find.
Would definitely be interested in a take on this. I can see it being delicious as a carbed session mead, or something full bodied and higher abv.
I think that’s a great question, and to my knowledge I don’t believe so...but I’ve never aged anything with it. I typically use it to make an orange creamsicle IPA, it’s the only recipe of any kind that I use any sort of concentrated flavor for because I don’t think there’s any good substitute to get that same “fake but good” orange flavor that the ice cream has. The same reason I use bakers vanilla. It’s the only time I wouldn’t use fresh vanilla beans because it’s just not the same flavor. I want to call it an extract but it’s really not. I’m generally not a fan of extracts but this stuff doesn’t have that alcohol flavor that most extracts have (that I’ve ever been able to tell), but again that’s just this particular brand. It’s just a very strong oil. It just has to be used with discretion. As for going rancid, I leave it out on top my fridge for storage. I bought too much 2 years ago and it still smells and tastes fine. I just dosed some water to test. I don’t think that 5 drops or so in a 5 gallon batch would be anything to worry about. Dose to taste though, this isn't something I’ve done in mead before and could see it requiring different amounts of oil to balance due to varying levels of alcohol content, no malt / hops to deal with like in beer, etc.
Lactose added to the fermentation? I’m thinking about maybe blood oranges might add an interesting citrus kick with vanilla. 80-90% Orange Blossom Honey and subtle 20-10% Carrot Blossom combo?
The thing about orange creamsicle is that the flavor is inherently artificial. Not in a bad way, orange creamsicle anything is delicious, it's just that the flavors are different than what you would get from orange zest and vanilla bean.
In trying to recreate the flavor for a beer I've found the perfect combination to be LorAnn's orange oil and the best baker's vanilla you can find.
Would definitely be interested in a take on this. I can see it being delicious as a carbed session mead, or something full bodied and higher abv.
Lactose added to the fermentation? I’m thinking about maybe blood oranges might add an interesting citrus kick with vanilla. 80-90% Orange Blossom Honey and subtle 20-10% Carrot Blossom combo?