Jun

What is JUN? And no, it's not a month of the year.JUN is a fermented tea beverage similar to kombucha. Tart, subtly fizzy, with a slight sweetness on the backend—it's my favorite kind of beverage. Jun has successfully replaced champagne at my house (sometimes!) and saved me a few dollars. Unlike kombucha, fermented with cane sugar and black tea, jun is made with raw honey and green tea. Some say that jun is the more delicate and sophisticated version of kombucha. I would say this makes sense.I first read about jun while browsing the internet. Something about it fascinated me. Why is kombucha everywhere and jun is a complete mystery!? Perhaps because the ingredients are higher quality and more expensive? That's possible. Or maybe I actually discovered something that is relatively unknown.The origins of jun are surrounded by myth and mystery, no one really knows the start of the culture. Legend has it that jun originated in the Himalayas brewed by monks and spiritual warrior nomads. At the least this sounds VERY cool. Some say that jun is more than a fermented and probiotic rich beverage—an ancient spiritual elixir. Ok, now you get why we like it?A mythical, magical, mystery potion that you can make in your own home. We are in love.With a culture, jun is very easy to make. I ordered my scoby from Kombucha Kamp (very high-quality products that we love!)Once I made my first batch, I quite easily got the hang of it. It's not that hard, and thus far does not seem to be very finicky. | HOW TO MAKE JUN |  For 1 small/medium scoby use:

• 1 gallon of filtered water
• 8 organic green tea bags (or 8 teaspoons of loose leaf green tea in a sachet)
• 1 cup raw honey

1. Bring water to a boil. Steep tea for at least 5-10 minutes (I like a strong brew on mine).
2. Once water has cooled to slightly above room temperature, stir in raw honey to dissolve. It's very important not to add the honey when the water is piping hot because the heat will kill the aliveness of the honey and the culture won't have anything to feed on. Let cool completely. Dump scoby into tea + honey brew. Allow to ferment at room temperature for at least three days—it can go much longer. The longer the ferment the less sweet the result. I've fermented mine for up to a week.
3. You can ferment in a tightly sealed container. (This is what I have done because I have pets and want to keep the environment clean). Or you can ferment with the vessel lightly covered.
4. Once jun has reached your desired flavor profile—decant, refrigerate, and chill.

 Makes 1 gallon ** As my culture has grown (it's huge now!), I've expanded the recipe without any issue. My culture is now approximately 4 times the size of the original, so I've increased the recipe accordingly without any problem. Exciting and exotic—my experience making jun has been quite fun! I thoroughly partake in all of the mythical rituals of making this delightful potion. Turn the music up, burn incense, open the doors, and craft your very own elixir of life!!!