How To Activate And Brew With Your New Jun SCOBY and Starter!
What is Jun? It’s basically fermented green tea that is brimming with probiotics. You can typically find these fermented beverages at the grocery store (labeled kombucha but if you read the ingredients it will say green tea), but you will quickly find they are expensive and can add up very fast. The variety at the grocery STORE may be jun but also may be a converted kombucha SCOBY brew. Now that you’ve purchased your jun SCOBY and starter, you’re ready to up the probiotics and cut the high costs! There are a few things that you will need for this:
Glass jar with a breathable lid (unbleached coffee filters and a rubber band work great)
Authentic Jun scoby (Click HERE for an authentic Jun scoby)
Strong starter tea (or finished, unflavored, unpasteurized, store bought Jun)
Water
Loose green tea leaves or tea bags
Honey
Now, let’s get the measurements down. For every 4 cups of Jun you want to make, you will need:
2-3 Green tea bags
1/4 cup Starter tea
1/4 cup Honey
Directions for your activation batch (4 cups):
Heat 1 cup to nearly a boil. Turn off heat and let sit one minute.
Add tea bags and steep for 3 minutes. You are essentially making a tea concentrate at this point. Do not let it over steep, as green tea can get quite bitter.
Remove tea bags and add honey. Stir to dissolve.
Cover and let cool to room temp. Between 65-90 degrees Fahrenheit. If you’re in a hurry, as long as it’s slightly cool to the touch you’re good to go.
Add 2 3/4 cups water.
Stir in 1/4 cup strong starter tea from your last batch or store bought jun. Make sure it is unflavored and RAW. You want the good bacteria in there! Pasteurized jun has been heated and the beneficial bacteria killed off. Adding starter tea drops the pH to a low enough level to deter mold growth.
Add Jun SCOBY.
Cover with a breathable lid, let sit ABSOLUTELY undisturbed, and out of direct sunlight for 3-5 days. At 3 days you can take a whiff and taste your brew. If it is too sweet let ferment a day longer. If too sour, brew for a shorter period the next batch. Fine tune the brew time to your personal preference. There is no hard and fast rule to when it’s done. It’s done when you say it is!