How to Make Jun Kombucha Tea
Wondering how jun kombucha is made? Well, it’s simple. It’s just like making classic kombucha, but instead of black tea and sugar, you will use honey, green tea, and a jun kombucha SCOBY. To get started, you’ll need a few basic ingredients and supplies. Let’s jump in; we’ll show you how to brew jun kombucha from start to finish!
–
Jun Kombucha Tea – “The Champagne of Kombucha”
Have you heard of jun kombucha and want to try making it at home? With just a few ingredients, you can start brewing and have an endless supply of Jun tea flowing from your kitchen. It’s easy! Let’s learn how…
What Is Jun Kombucha Tea?
Jun kombucha, often referred to as Jun Tea (or simply Jun) is fermented sweet tea. The tea, as opposed to classic kombucha, is sweetened with honey and is typically brewed with green tea (though it can successfully be fermented with a variety of teas). Jun’s flavor is slightly sweet, pleasantly tart and contains less of a vinegary bite than traditional kombucha. This light and bright flavor profile lead to it getting nicknamed the “champagne of kombucha.”
Click here to learn more about the jun culture and its mysterious history.
|
Is Brewing Jun Kombucha at Home Difficult? No, not at all. If you can brew sweet tea, you can brew Jun Tea. It’s as simple as that. |
Jun Kombucha Brewing Basics
Brewing jun kombucha is almost always a two-step process. Brewing jun kombucha is only a one-step process for those who prefer an unflavored flat jun kombucha. Otherwise the steps consist of a primary fermentation and secondary fermentation. The primary fermentation is when you make kombucha, and the secondary fermentation is when you take the kombucha and bottle, flavor and carbonate.
- Primary Fermentation: The primary fermentation is the first step of the kombucha brewing process. This is where your SCOBY transforms the honey in the sweet tea into the tart and slightly sweet kombucha we love. At the end of this stage, you will have jun kombucha but it will be unflavored and flat.
- Second Fermentation: This is the step where you bottle your jun kombucha. In addition, this is where you carbonate and/or flavor your jun kombucha by the addition of sugar and flavors. This step is essentially adding a bit of sugar/flavor to each airtight bottle and letting it ferment a little longer, allowing the yeast to naturally carbonate the beverage in an airtight environment. Have questions on the process? See our guide on kombucha secondary fermentation here.
What do you Need to Brew Jun Kombucha?
To start brewing jun kombucha, you’ll need a few supplies:
Supplies Needed:
- Kombucha Brewing Jar: Glass or lead-free porcelain are popular options for home brewing. Choose anything non-porous and non-reactive. See this post to help determine what is the best container for brewing kombucha.
- Jun Kombucha Culture | SCOBY: The SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) is the group of living microbes responsible for transforming sweet tea into kombucha. They reside in previously brewed kombucha as well as in the cellulose film that grows on the surface. If you’re looking for a jun SCOBY, you can purchase an Organic jun SCOBY here!
- Honey: Without sugar, there wouldn’t be any fermentation taking place. The yeast eats sugars in the honey, breaking it down into carbon dioxide and alcohol, which then gets broken down by the bacteria into healthy organic acids, enzymes, and vitamins. Since you’re saving so much money making your jun kombucha, I recommend purchasing organic ingredients.
- Organic Green Tea: Green tea provides the Jun SCOBY with nutrients that help facilitate the fermentation. It’s traditional to use all green tea when brewing jun kombucha.
- Filtered Water: As the most abundant ingredient in kombucha, you want to make sure that the water you use is high quality. Tap water contains chlorine and chloramines that inhibit microbe growth (not good for fermentation). Most cheap, carbon water filters will remove chlorine and chloramines so those will suffice. Questions on water sources? See our post on brewing kombucha with tap water.
6. pH Strips: Testing the pH at the start of your jun kombucha brew is essential. Testing the pH tells us that our jun tea is brewing safely in the proper pH range, with a starting aim at 4.5 or below. Also, we can monitor the brew as it ferments and track its progress as the pH lowers. Finished jun kombucha, depending on preference, will have a pH anywhere from 2.5 – 3.5.
7. Temperature Strip: Attach an adhesive temperature strip to the side of your brewing vessel. These temperature strips allow you to monitor the temperature of your jun kombucha brew, so you know if your batch is being kept at the proper temperature.
How To Brew Jun Kombucha Tea
Course: How to Brew, Jun Kombucha, KombuchaCuisine: Kombucha, Jun Kombucha, TeaDifficulty: Easy
1
30 min
7-21 days
Use this recipe to execute your Jun Kombucha Primary Fermentation to perfection!
Ingredients
-
12-14 cups Filtered Water
-
6 bags Green Tea OR 6 tsp of loose-leaf green tea
-
1 cup Honey
-
1 Fermentaholics Jun kombucha SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) – pellicle with 12 fluid ounces of jun starter tea
- SUPPLIES
-
1 gallon Kombucha Brewing Jar, Small Pot, Breathable Kombucha Cloth Cover, And A Rubber Band.
-
1 Funnel
-
1 Thermometer Or Adhesive Temperature Strip
-
1-3 pH Strips
-
1-7 Kombucha Bottles – Pressure Holding, Airtight Bottles For The Secondary Fermentation, And Storing Your Finished Brew.
Directions
- Bring two cups of water to a boil, then remove the pot from heat.
- Steep the tea for 5-10 minutes.
- Allow tea to cool slightly (If you add the honey in while it’s too hot, it can scorch the microbes that you want to preserve, too cool and it will be hard to fully dissolve).
- Pour sweetened tea into the glass brew jar and fill with filtered water, leaving enough room to add the culture and some head space (about 4u0022).
- The addition of the water should bring the tea mixture to about room temperature. Just make sure it’s ≥85°F or cool to the touch before moving on.
- Add your Jun Kombucha SCOBY (Scoby pellicle with 12 fluid ounces of mature jun starter tea).
- Cover the jar and leave it to ferment between 75-85°F. Start tasting after day 5 to assess the progress. If it is still too sweet, allow it to continue fermenting, as the full fermentation can take up to 21 days, depending on temperature and desired flavor preference.
How to Make Chamomile Tea?
How to Make Chamomile Tea? Chamomile Tea: Brewed Tranquility in Every Sip A Beginner's Guide on How to Make Chamomile Tea Are you a tea lover looking to explore [...]
Kombucha Making Glossary of Terms
The A to Z of Kombucha Making: A Glossary of Key Terms Master the Lingo and Art of Kombucha Brewing with Our Kombucha Making Glossary of Terms and Definitions. [...]
How to Make a Cup of Pu-erh Tea
Pu-erh Tea Pu-erh tea is a type of fermented tea that originates from Yunnan Province in China. It is made from the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant and is known for [...]
Shop Now
Hello! I stumbled upon your blog this weekend. I think you write well! I ordered a SCOBY from you because mine was contaminated with mold, but, thanks to your blog, I figured out why (I think). I decided I liked all-green-tea kombucha best, so I quit using black tea. I decided though, thanks to your articles on Jun tea, that I will attempt to make Jun tea with my “bad” SCOBY. The reason for this decision is that it seems to be fermenting and making kombucha, so I’m going to try green tea with raw honey and see if it produces a Jun tea. Thanks for your articles!
Hey Jill! Thank you for taking the time to write in, I love hearing about others’ experiences! I’m so glad you’ve experimented and gotten to find a combo that you like. Black tea does add a bitter tinge so I tend to use mostly green as well. Jun tea is so delicious and it gets super fizzy too! Check back in with me sometime and let me know how its goin :)
Howdy Ruthie!
I bought your Jun Scoby pack from Amazon … I’m on day 4 with my tea … the pack had 2 small round scoby’s … so I put both in there … it looks to be coming right along … I tasted it today and from your discription … I will be putting it in smaller canning jars tomorrow … as that is what I have … so my question … when I reserve back the cup of Jun for the next batch … do I throw out the two Scoby’s or keep them with the tea? Also … one floats … the other is sitting in the bottom of the jar … it that normal??
Thank you for your time.
Kindest Regards,
Tauni
Hey Tauni!
Glad to hear your first brew is going well! If a new SCOBY is growing on top, there’s no need to keep the original two so you can compost them or toss em. After a few brews, your jar will become a little crowded with SCOBYs as a new one will form with every new batch so every now and then you’ll want to clean up shop or toss them in a SCOBY hotel for backup/passing along to friends.
Cheers!
Hi Ruthie. I enjoyed your article thank you and am just about to ‘need’ to try Jun. I have been brewing kombucha for a month or two and am enjoying my adventure quite well. I have a small continuous brew vessel, would this work for jun as well? Also I hear Jun has a higher alcahol content. As a rule how much higher, do you know? Thank you,
Hey Marisa!
Thanks for reading, I’m glad you enjoyed it! Continuous brew will work just fine with Jun, the same as it does for traditional kombucha. You may every now and then need to strain out the yeast as it builds up faster with Jun. It is slightly higher in alcohol, each brew will be different, however due to varying yeast populations. My suggestion would be to buy a refractometer, a fun and useful tool to measure alcohol content. Makes you feel like a real scientist, too ;).
What’s the difference between a kombucha scoby and a Jun scoby?
A kombucha SCOBY is conditioned to thrive on cane sugar and predominately black tea, although I use a mix of black and green tea. Jun SCOBYs are conditioned to survive on honey and green tea, providing a different mix up of microbes that adapted better in that environment. Many say you can condition a kombucha SCOBY to become a Jun SCOBY or vis versa. Some say there’s no difference at all. There are approximately 250 different species in each culture so I would imagine that some prefer different nutrients and begin thriving in their preferred environment.
I made my first batch and I’m currently doing a second ferment. I have a question…. I have a new scoby and some sedement at the bottom. Should I filter out the larger sedement or stir in? Very unsure about what growth is good to keep for the second ferment and what to toss.
Also, how long should I wait between brews or could I just start another.
Over time, you will want to filter out some of the sediment. The “sediment” is simply yeast buildup–a perfectly natural and healthy process of kombucha. Kombucha, however, relies on the balance of yeast and bacteria so if they yeast sediment begins to overrun your brew, you will want to filter some of it out so that it doesn’t throw off the balance. You definitely don’t have to do that with every brew though. I do it only when I notice it getting a little crazy.
As for starting another batch, you can start it whenever you’d like! Right away is usually my tactic, however, your SCOBY will be just fine hanging out in a jar with a cup or so of starter for a surprisingly long time–really until the starter evaporates months later.
I have been making kombucha for a while but could not get the fizz like the store bought bottle kombucha. I bought your Jun scrubby a week ago and just bottled up my first batch. I did read your post to add fruit for flavor and fizz. I have only added fresh ginger in the past sugar kombucha. Any special tips on achieving that nice fizz?
To get the most fizz, you want to provide the yeast with a fresh sugar source so they can quickly produce CO2 once you bottle it. In the beer brewing world this is referred to as “bottle conditioning.” Fruit is a great option because it not only adds natural sugars but adds great flavor as well!
How long do you do the second ferment when you’ve added fruit?
Hi Heather!
This depends a little, typically I leave it around 3 days. Sometimes I will do just 2 days, or if I’m not getting a lot of carbonation, I will let it go longer. You’ll want to open the lid once a day to relieve some pressure build up and this will also give you an indication if you want to let them go longer or go ahead and halt the fermentation.
i got your jun scoby from Amazon. I d been brewing it and it is delicious! but it doesn t for a new scoby! it is getting a little thicker but no new one. It s something wrong?
No, that’s okay! sometimes it will take a while for the pellicle to grow but still make delicious jun in the meantime :)
Hi, I am doing my second batch of Jun. The Jun scoby doesn’t form a full baby. It is more creating scattered small block on top of the vessel. Should I expect a baby similar to the kombucha scoby?
The first ferment was using the kit from fermentaholocs. For the second batch, I used raw honey. The temperature is staying between 70-80.
I just love Jun kombucha. I received my Jun kombucha kit on October 1, 2018. There was no damage to of the items in the box. First batch made a new scoby by day six? Just finished bottling my second batch! Should my Jun be ready to bottle in 5-6 days? Thanks for an excellent product?
Hi Melissa! So glad you’re loving your Jun kit!! Your brew time will vary depending on temperature as well as various other factors, however, typically Jun will be done in 5-10 days. Best way to tell is just by tasting it. When it’s done it should be a little sweet but have a nice tart tang to it as well.
Where did the Jun scoby come from?
Hi Jorge! Jun’s origin is shrouded in a bit of mystery as there is not a lot of historical reference to it, making it seem as if it might be a recent spin of off kombucha. The likely oldest cultivators are the Tibetan folk as they are still brewing Jun today.
I purchased your Jun SCOBY from amazon and followed the directions exactly. Our home runs on the cold side, average temp 60°.
I wrapped the glass container in Christmas lights hoping to add a little heat, only to find the temp had gone to 120° By the next morning! I am assuming the SCOBY is now dead? There appears to be some new growth on the top but I’m assuming it’s all yeast and the beneficial bacteria have died off?
Wow that is a big change, typically Christmas lights bring it up just 5-10 degrees! What kind of thermometer were you using? Since the surface might have reached 120 but not the center, I would wait and see what happens before you toss it all out. If you’re using a stick on thermometer, it might be that the lights touching it directly heated it up but not necessarily the kombucha. I bet some of your culture survived. Monitor it in the next few days and see if you are noticing a drop in pH, color change, change in smell, yeast flocculation, etc. SCOBYs are actually pretty hardy, especially just temporarily.
I was shocked how much it heated up! I used a digital thermometer I inserted into the liquid. The temperature since has been in the mid 60°s. The SCOBY has settled at the bottom and it smells sweet & vinegary. I have some growth I am assuming is yeast dangling from the top.
Well it sounds like it is still doing okay despite the temperature spike. Sweet and vinegary is definitley good. Surface growth and yeast flocculation is also good. Since you’re getting a vinegary scent, go ahead and start taste testing to see how it’s progressing!
Just wanted to thank you for the info, I’ve been successfully brewing with your culture for several months now!
Appreciate your comments on this. My husband enjoys kombucha but has to be cautious of all caffeine. He drinks a decaf cold brew coffee in the morning. I would like to make Jun Kombucha for him. I understand the caffeine content of green tea is modestly lower than black tea. I have also read that the SCOBY needs tannin to work as well as the sugar. Has anyone tried replacing a %-age of green tea with hibiscus flowers or stinging nettle? Both have tannins and I wondered if the SCOBY would be successful working with the lower caffeine?
Hey Marcia! I brew with hibiscus all the time-I LOVE it! Definitely recommend. Check out this post on caffeine and kombucha: https://fermentaholics.com/does-kombucha-have-caffeine/
Cheers!
Hi there. I received your complete Jun Kombucha kit today and I’m excited to have started my first batch. I have noticed about 1 hour after finishing everything up and setting the gallon jar in it’s “spot” to sit for the next 5 to 7 days, it has about an 1.5″ thick layer of sediment that has settled to the bottom. I can’t quite find any information on this and just wanted to make sure everything has gone correctly or if something has happened during the initial first bottling.
Hi Brandi,
Congrats on your first brew! The sediment is just yeast and is normal for Jun kombucha. Feel free to send photos over to info@fermentaholics.com to verify or send questions if you have any.
Cheers!
after the first brew of Jun, you bottle and add flavors. Do you keep in fridge or on the counter?
If you want your Jun to be carbonated, leave in on the counter for a few days in sealed, air-tight bottles so the fizz can build. If you don’t want it to, you can put it straight into the fridge.
I have just started my first brew of Jun tea. The pH was not at or below 4.5 so I added 1 tbsp of distilled white vinegar. It went from a pH of 7 to 6. I added another tbsp. and it went to 5.5. Is it ok to keep adding vinegar till you get to 4.5? I am afraid of ruining it. Thanks!
Hi Melissa,
Did you use any starter tea? That’s the best way to get the pH down as well as inoculate the tea. If you did, it should have brought it down to at least 4.5 on its own.
You can add distilled white vinegar until the pH gets to 4.5 without harming anything but do not use any other type of vinegar because you can risk introducing different microbes to the mix.
Thank you for these instructions! I’m excited to get started!
After doing some research, I’ve decided to start making Jun Tea Kombucha via continuous brewing. How do you recommend adapting this recipe for big batches?
Do I need to start with a small batch and gradually make it bigger? (FYI – I’ve never made Kombucha before, but am planning to make it in a 2.5 gallon Kombucha crock.)
Hi Bobbi, I’m glad you found this helpful. When it comes to scaling recipes up or down, it’s similar to classic kombucha. Take a look at our post here on “scaling kombucha batches and ratios,” which can be applied to the standard Jun recipe above. This article will cover each ingredient, but feel free to reach out if you have any additional questions.
Cheers,
Stephen
Hi, I bought my scoby from you on Amazon and made my first batch which turned out delicious. I am now getting ready to bottle my second batch and start a third. My question is “Do I wash the glass brewing container or do I leave the yeast on the bottom and add my starter tea to that? Thanks for the info.
Hi there and thanks for reaching out. With clean hands, you’ll want to remove the SCOBY from your brew jar and place it in a clean container. Measure out 1 1/2 to 2 cups of kombucha from your brewing vessel and add it to the container with the SCOBY. This will be the starter for your next batch, and you can discard any leftover yeast in your original jar, or add it to your new one, just preference. Hope this helps and glad to hear you’re enjoying your brew!