What is JUN kombucha?
Hey WILD readers!
You know kombucha but have you heard of Jun?
Jun (rhyming with “run”) is pretty much a cousin to the traditional kombucha. Both have similar health benefits – rich in probiotics with a sparkly effervescence. The fermentation process still requires a SCOBY but instead of adding black tea and sugar, Jun is brewed with green tea and honey.
Fermentation expert, Sandor Katz, sheds some light into Jun’s origin. In his book, The Art of Fermentation, he writes:
“The lack of credible information on Jun leads me to the conclusion that it is a relatively recent divergence from the kombucha family tree. Some websites claim that it comes from Tibet, where it has been made for 1,000 years; unfortunately, books on Tibetan food, and even a specialized book on Himalayan ferments, contain no mention of it. Whether or not it has a 1,000-year-old history, it is quite delicious.”
The difference between Kombucha and Jun
The gut boosting Jun tastes slightly different than our existing range of WILD kombucha. It is more delicate and has a light tartness flavour. Kombucha, on the other hand, has a heavier body / mouthfeel and stronger in taste due to its ingredients.
Jun also ferments within 7 days which is faster than kombucha that requires 2 -3 weeks. This is because the microbes are able to feed on the raw wild honey faster than the organic cane sugar that we use.
Why make Kombucha with honey anyways?
Most Kombucha recipes call for cane sugar, which is considered to be a “staple food” for the mother culture (SCOBY) to eat and thrive while it produces beneficial acids and proliferates to create the bubbly, delicious and fermented beverage.
Raw honey on the other hand, contains enzymes that help breaks down easily compared to cane sugar, as well as having antimicrobial and antifungal properties that have been used for medicinal purposes since ancient times. Honey is also allowable on a gut-healing diet such as GAPS, a comprehensive healing diet-protocol developed to treat patients with compromised gut health like autism spectrum disorders, ADD/ADHD, dyspraxia, dyslexia and schizophrenia [4].
The lighter, faster brewing process gave us the opportunity to brew a limited-edition flavour, known as Spirulina Honey. Spirulina, a blue-green algae, is categorised as a superfood due to its high nutritional content and health benefits.
It’s main active element is called phycocyanin [1], which gives its blue-green colour and has been found to contain high levels of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory effects [2]. Therefore, consuming spirulina on a regular basis can drive away chronic inflammation which leads to cancer and other diseases [3].
[1] Leech J, 2018, 10 Health Benefits of Spirulina,Healthline.com, https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-proven-benefits-of-spirulina
[2] Shih CM, Cheng SN, Wong CS, Kuo YL, Chou TC, Antiinflammatory and antihyperalgesic activity of C-phycocyanin. Anesth Analg. 2009 Apr;108(4):1303-10. doi: 10.1213/ane.0b013e318193e919. PMID: 19299804. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19299804/
[3] Reuter S, Gupta S, Chathurvedi M, Aggarwal B, Oxidative stress, inflammation, and cancer: How are they linked?, Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 2010 December; Volume 49, Issue 11. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0891584910005381
[4] McGruther J., What is the GAPS diet, https://nourishedkitchen.com/what-is-the-gaps-diet/