How to make jun tea

Jun tea is a traditional fermented tea made with green or white tea and honey. Everyone knows about kombucha, but to this day Jun is still relatively rare and unknown.

There are some stores that sell Jun cultures online, or you can get one from someone who may gift you a daughter culture. After trying out the tea we were amazed by its flavours. We found it tastes almost champagne-like but sourer. A new flavour we could not keep a "secret" from you. Let's get started!

Ingredients for Jun tea

• 1 litre water
• 2 teaspoons of green tea leaves
• Scant of honey, preferably raw honey
• 1 Jun culture
• 1/2 cup of Jun tea from a previous brew

Kitchen equipment needed

• Large jar or pitcher
• Second large jar or pitcher
• Kettle
• Fine-mesh sieve

Preparation

Boil 1 litre of water in the kettle and pour the hot water over the green tea leaves. Allow the tea to steep for a few minutes.

Strain the green tea through a fine-mesh sieve into the second pitcher. Squeeze in some (raw) honey. Allow the tea to cool off to room temperature.

This is very important otherwise the Jun culture will die because of boiling hot water. Dump in the Jun culture along with 1/2 cup of tea from a previous batch or brew.

Keep two large jars for swapping the Jun culture every 2 to 3 days, use one and clean the other. The time depends on your taste, it will get sourer every day.

Allow the tea to ferment over a period of 2 to 3 days. Then, carefully remove the Jun culture and 1/2 cup of jun tea and repeat the same process.

Make sure the equipment you're using is made from plastic, stainless steel isn't suitable for the jun culture. Use a different jar or pitcher for this and clean the used one. Enjoy!

What's so different about Jun tea and Kombucha?

The main difference is that Jun tea best ferments green tea sweetened by raw honey. Kombucha on the other hand best ferments in black tea sweetened with sugar.

There's also a distinct taste difference between kombucha and jun tea. Jun tea is more delicate and not as sour as kombucha. Jun cultures also typically complete their fermentation process much faster than kombucha does.

Though it reproduces more unreliable, hence it's harder to come by a Jun culture. Jun tea is best kept in a chilled environment, where kombucha needs warmth to ferment correctly.

Enjoy your jun tea! Tip: store the jun culture in a light but a slightly cool spot in your kitchen.