Jun Tea Recipe
Jun tea, like kombucha, is an effervescent probiotic drink. Jun is mild and delicate with a pleasantly tart flavor infused with the floral notes of honey. Serve it over ice, or with crushed berries stirred in.
Servings: 8 servings (2 quarts)
Calories: 64kcal
Equipment
- flip-top bottles
- ½ gallon jar
- Cheesecloth
Ingredients
- 8 cups water
- 2 teaspoons loose-leaf sencha tea
- ½ cup honey
- 1 Jun SCOBY
- ½ cup Jun tea from a previous batch
Instructions
Preparing the green tea and honey.
- Bring water to 170 F in a kettle. While the water comes to temperature, sprinkle the looseleaf green tea into a large jar or pitcher. Pour the hot water over the tea, and then let it steep at least 3 and up to 5 minutes.
- Strain the tea through a fine-mesh sieve into your jar, and then let it cool to room temperature (65-75 F).
Brewing jun tea.
- Once the tea is cooled to room temperature and mixed with honey, add your SCOBY and ½ cup Jun tea from a previous batch. Cover the jar with cheesecloth or butter muslin, and let the jun culture 3 to 5 days, or until it smells pleasantly sour and faintly sweet.
- Carefully remove the Jun SCOBY and set it on a plate. Stir the remaining jun tea, and reserve ½ cup tea for your next batch. Prepare a fresh batch of Jun right away, or store the SCOBY and reserved tea in a jar up at room temperature up to 1 week.
Secondary fermentation.
- After reserving the SCOBY and ½ cup tea, stir the jun once more, and then pour it into 4 pint-sized flip-top bottles. Let them culture at room temperature 2 to 3 days, then enjoy immediately or transfer to the fridge where they'll keep up to 3 months.
Notes
Flavoring Jun Tea. If you wish to flavor your tea, mix in ½ cup fruit juice or herbs to your finished jun, then bottle and continue culturing in the bottle 2 to 3 days before transferring to the fridge.
