After the tragedy that lead to the vacant shelves where GT Dave’s Kombucha once was, I decided to try my hand at home brewing this popular raw fermented beverage touted with health benefits. Armed with supplies, neighborly support, and one last golden bottle of GT’s Citrus flavor as my starter culture, I set to work with the hand sketched recipe from the friendly folks at the local Pharmaca. It seemed simple enough: make a big pot of dark black tea, add sugar, add culture, cover and check in after 8 days to ensure that all is growing well. I was worried about that growing part — you know, growing the mother culture, that big slimy mushroom that makes your face cringe as if it has just witnessed something heinous.
After 12 days working its undercover magic on my counter, the time to taste test ‘operation: homebrew’ had arrived. I had no idea what I was getting into once I got past the mother culture, but what I discovered was something that tasted pretty much like a sweet black tea-vinegar blend with a dry finish. It was definitely Kombucha; but it was a far cry from GT Dave’s.
With that mission aborted, but still in seach of a yummy fermented sippy sip for my belly, I moved on to making my own water kefir. Hoping, ultimately, that my own supply of this delish beverage would curb the habit I was developing at the grocery store ($10 / bottle of Inner Eco every other day at Whole Foods) and at my favorite well-oxygenated watering hole ($6 for a cup of lime-ginger coconut kefir). Water Kefir grains can be found online and work by ‘digesting’ sugar water into a brew full of enzymes and probiotics and other stellar things for your bod all in approximately 48 hours. This was all music to my online shopping ears, and my first batch will be ready in 12 hours and counting.
Earlier this week I heard of yet another hippy brew called Jun made from a culture (different from Kombucha) that feeds on honey. Originally from Tibet, Jun is made with green tea brewed in a closed container. The flavor of the honey shines through this nectar and has a much stronger body than Kombucha with none of that vinegary-dryness. I was intrigued that Jun could be made with herbal teas versus black tea, since this opens the door to herbal combinations and greater tonic properties.
I was able to try some last night at Tonic – Boulder’s one and only oxygen bar and Herban Lounge – after a friend bought me an introductory mug of Love Potion #9. According to Herbal Junction Elixirs, this flavor flav is about “Releasing the flow of desire while it heals and nourishes; this mix is full of bright bursts of taste pleasure.” With my paws wrapped around the little earthen delivery vessel, I savored each sip of this powerful brew and could feel its subtle alchemy moving through me.
Jun cultures are hard to come by unless you know ’someone who knows someone,’ and while I will order it again next time I take my seat at the Oxygen bar, in the meantime, I’ll be whipping up my own kefir elixirs for some effervescent summer satiation. Maybe I’ll call my first batch Love Potion #9 1/2?
