Bee Pollen JUN Beverage - High Polyphenols (tannin)

JUN is an ancient culture from Tibet that is used to make fermented tea. It has been recently introduced to the United states over the last ten to fifteen years, and is very rarely used commercially. On this date, I know of only two sources that sell JUN commercially, and both are on the west coast.

The JUN culture is traditionally fed using very high quality organic green tea and raw honey.

In order to make JUN fermented tea you mush have a JUN SCOBY.

A SCOBY is a Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast.

If you need one I sell them here:
Fermentation101 Shop

Most often the JUN culture, in its pure form, will be strictly fed green tea and honey. JUN is very high in antioxidants, and is very beneficial because it contains the probiotic Lactobacillus casei. Since green tea is high in polyphenols (tannin)  and that is want is needed to fee the SCOBBY, I started doing research into other "Non Tea" herbs, flowers, barks, and leaves that are also high in polyphenols that could potentially work with the JUN culture. 

My personal reason for doing this research is to be able to make a fermented beverage that does not contain caffeine like typical JUN and Kombucha do.

During my research I found an article that peaked my interest, and said that Bee Pollen is very high in polyphenols (tannin) and has Anti-radical properties.

Here is a link to that article:

Bee Pollen High in Polyphenols

This is an EXPERIMENT, I have not seen anyone mention using bee pollen in place of tea for fermenting JUN. So, I will continue to update this blog as I venture into this experiment, as well as other JUN experiments using "Non Tea" options.

How I did it:

 

Step one - procure the freshest local bee pollen you can - I used 1/2 cup

Note: it is important to use a local source of bee pollen so you can get the best health benefits from the plant sources, and wild yeast that the pollen is coming from locally.

 

Step two - Heat 1 1/2 cups purified water up to about 180 degrees and steep the Pollen for 5 minutes
NOTE: DO NOT use tap water - it contains chlorine, fluoride and bromine that can kill your SCOBY. You also do not want to boil the water because it will take all the Oxygen out of it and your beverage will not get fizzy.

 

 Step three - filter the particles through a coffee filter 

Note: In the filter, there will be a light tan or yellow sludge left over - you can keep the sludge and use it in other recipes, or simply compost the whole filter, sludge and all.

 

Step four - dissolve 1/2 cup of raw honey in 1 cup of room temperature water, then add it to your glass fermenting container with the pollen liquid.

Note: I took a pH reading on this just for my own curiosity, and it was a 6

 

Step five -  add 1 cup of strong JUN starter and then add your SCOBY

Note: Make sure the mixture is at room temperature - you do not want to burn your SCOBY. I did also take a pH reading after adding the starter and SCOBY and it was a 4.

 

Step six - Cover with a tightly woven cloth (I use t-shirt material) and rubber band it tightly so that no particles, contaminates, or bugs can get in.

 Note: there are two ways to ferment using a JUN culture; Aerobic (with oxygen) and anaerobic (with out oxygen)  for this ferment I chose to use the aerobic fermentation because there is already a ton of yeast in the bee pollen, so there really is no point to try to keep the wild yeast out this time.

The Ideal brewing temperature for JUN is 68-77F - so I leave it on the counter in my Kitchen in the winter and take it to the basement in the summer. It can typically take 4-6 days to ferment, I usually like to taste it around day 4 and let it sit more days if necessary. Fermenting JUN can sometimes be  finicky, I have had the culture stall several times from adding too much honey, different types of honey, warmer water, or even simply bumping the fermentation vessel by accident, it will eventually ferment, so be patient. JUN is considered to have a lighter flavor, and more effervescent feel to it than the more common Kombucha, which some people find to be too vinegary for their taste.

Please feel free to leave comments or questions - or even tell me about your experiments with "non tea" JUN ferments.

4-16-2015 - UPDATE: after leaving the JUN sit for 7 days it has formed a beautiful new pellicle of a baby SCOBY almost 1/4 inch - the brew is lightly effervescent, and very citrus like with a note of honey. having let this sit over the 4-6 day mark it is a bit more astringent for my taste, but it is still enjoyable over ice. I think next time I will start tasting it at day 4. It is still a lovely beverage. Below is a photo of the measured new baby SCOBY.