Jun Tea

Jun is often called the "champagne of kombucha" — it's brewed with green tea and raw honey instead of black tea and sugar, giving it a lighter, more floral, and complex flavor. It requires a Jun SCOBY (different from kombucha SCOBY, though related). The result is delicate, effervescent, and deeply refined.

What You Need

• 1 gallon filtered water
• 6 green tea bags or 1.5 tbsp loose-leaf green tea
• ½ cup raw honey (added after cooling — heat destroys its properties)
• 2 cups Jun starter liquid (or raw unflavored Jun)
• 1 Jun SCOBY

Method

1. Bring half the water to just below a boil (170°F — not boiling, which harms green tea). Steep tea 3–4 minutes. Remove bags.
2. Cool completely to below 95°F before adding honey — heat destroys the raw honey's properties.
3. Stir in raw honey until dissolved. Add remaining cold water.
4. Pour into a clean gallon jar. Add starter liquid. Gently add the SCOBY.
5. Cover with a tightly woven cloth. Ferment at room temperature for 7–10 days.
6. Taste from day 5. When pleasantly tart and lightly sweet, bottle and refrigerate.

Tips & Notes

• Raw honey is essential — pasteurized honey lacks the beneficial organisms that drive the fermentation.
• Green tea keeps the flavor delicate. Switching to black tea with honey changes it — still good, but no longer Jun.
• Second ferment with elderflower, lavender, or stone fruit is exceptional.

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