JUN TEA RECIPE
Yield : 2L Jun Tea
Ingredients:
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8 cups Carbon Filtered water , Well or Spring Water
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2-3 Tablespoons of loose leaf organic green tea/ or Jasmine Green tea or 6 - 8 tea bags of green tea/Jasmine Green tea
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1/2 - 3/4 cup of honey ( organic raw honey works best)
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1/2 Cup of strong Jun Starter tea or - 1 cup of JUN tea from a previous batch ( included with the scoby)
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1 Jun SCOBY mother or an active baby scoby
Optional flavoring: (2F) extras for bottling:
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1/2 to 1 cup chopped fruit,
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1 /2 to 1 cup fruit juice,
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1 to 2 tablespoons flavored tea (like hibiscus or Rose tea)
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2 tablespoons of sugar, 2 to 4 tablespoons fresh herbs or spices.
Equipment:
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Kettle or stock pot
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2 1/2 litre glass jar
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Tightly woven cloth (like clean napkins or tea towels), coffee filters, or paper towels, to cover the jar
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Flip-top bottle ,glass bottles with plastic lids, or clean soda bottle (for secondary fermentation( 2F))
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plastic/ silicon funnel
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Measuring spoons and cups
Instructions:
Primary Fermentation (1F)
Make the tea base:
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Bring the water to a boil. . Remove from the heat.
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Add in the tea and allow it to steep for 3-5 minutes.
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Let the tea cool down. Depending on the size of your pot, this will take a few hours. You can speed up the cooling process by placing the pot in an ice bath.
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Once the tea is cool, remove the tea bags or strain out the loose tea.
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Add in the honey, stir it until it's dissolved.
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Add the starter tea:
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Stir in the starter tea. (The starter tea makes the liquid acidic, which prevents unfriendly bacteria from taking up residence in the first few days of fermentation.)
Transfer to jars and add the scoby:
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Pour the mixture into a glass jar and gently slide the scoby into the jar with clean hands. Cover the mouth of the jar with a few layers tightly-woven cloth, coffee filters, or paper towels secured with a rubber band. (If you develop problems with gnats or fruit flies, use a tightly woven cloth or paper towels, which will do a better job keeping the insects out of your brew.)
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Ferment for 3 to 5 days:
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Keep the jar at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, and where it won't get jostled or moved during the fermention process. .
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Ferment for 3 to 5 days, checking the Jun and the scoby periodically. It's not unusual for the scoby to float at the top, bottom, or even sideways during fermentation.
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A new cream/white-colored layer of scoby should start forming on the surface of the Jun within a few days. It usually attaches to the old scoby, but it's ok if they separate. You may also see brown stringy bits floating beneath the scoby, sediment collecting at the bottom, and bubbles collecting around the scoby. This is all normal and signs of healthy fermentation.
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After 3 days:
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Begin tasting the Jun daily by using a strew inserted inside the jar, pouring a little out of the jar and into a cup. When it reaches a balance of sweetness and tartness that is pleasant to you, the Jun is ready to be harvested/decanted and bottled.
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Remove the scoby and Decanting:
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If you plan to make a new batch, prepare and cool another pot of strong tea for your next batch of Jun, as outlined above. With clean hands, gently lift the scoby out of the Jun and set it on a clean plate. As you do, check it over and remove the bottom layer if the scoby is getting very thick.
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Bottle the finished Jun:
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Measure out your starter tea from this batch of Jun and set it aside for the next batch.
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If you plan to do 2F let the tea ferment (1F) for only 3 days then decant the Jun tea and put it in flip top bottles, then add fresh fruit juices or dried fruits, then put it on the counter for another 1 to 2 days to further develop the flavors and fizz, after that burp it to release the pressure and put the Jun tea in the fridge to chill.
If you don't plan to do a Secondary fermentation (2F):
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Let the Jun tea ferment for 4 to 5 days in dark cool place ( Jun culture unlike Kombucha culture prefers cool temperature), then harvest/decant it and put the Jun tea straight into the fridge, it is ready to be consumed right away or after it's chill .
Secondary Fermentation (2F) Adding flavor
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Pour the fermented Jun tea (straining, if desired) into flip top bottles using the funnel, along with any juice, herbs, or fruit you may want to use as flavoring. Leave about a half inch of head room in each bottle.
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Alternatively, infuse the Jun with flavorings for a day or two in another covered jar, strain, and then bottle. This makes a cleaner Jun without "a bits of fruits/ flavorings in it.
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Carbonate and refrigerate the finished Jun:
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Store the bottled Jun at room temperature out of direct sunlight and allow 1 to 2 days for the Jun to carbonate.
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Refrigerate to stop fermentation and carbonation, and then consume your Jun within a month.
Make a fresh batch of Jun:
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Clean the jar being used for Jun fermentation. Combine the starter tea from your last batch of Jun with the fresh batch of green tea with honey, and pour it into the fermentation jar. Slide the scoby on top, cover, and ferment for 3 to 5 days.
Note:
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Avoid prolonged contact between the Jun SCOBY and metal both during and after brewing. This can affect the flavor of your Jun and weaken the scoby over time.
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Be sure to keep the culture covered at all times and to keep and an eye out for fruit flies and vinegar flies.
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Jun can be fermented aerobically or anearobically (airtigh lid)
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As per our experience when fermenting for a shorter time the new SCOBY will not be fully developed, so if you don't have a strong mother SCOBY, try fermenting for at least 7 to 10 days or until you see there is a fully formed new baby SCOBY, the new culture can be used for the next batch, the mother can be discarded or kept in "JUN SCOBY Hotel"
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Alternatively once in a while you can make a new batch and let it ferment longer just to grow new baby SCOBY and let the mother thicken, then decant it, the tea will be vinegary after fermenting for 6 days or more, use this tea for salad dressing.
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The Jun tea that is left when you extend the primary brewing cycle for longer than usual will be more acidic, but it will make a good starter for your next batch of Jun tea when you start up again.
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As long as there is tea in your fermenting vessel/jar, you can store your Jun Scoby for long, long periods of time in room temperature.
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Fermenting room temperature :
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Preferably under 25 C
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Dosage:
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1/2 cup up to 1 cup, 2x a day after meals or 30 minutes before meals, follow it up with a glass of water.
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How to make SCOBY HOTEL:
Check this website to learn how to make a scoby hotel: https://www.kombuchakamp.com/scoby-hotel-maintenance.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjprkyu5eWw
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