Dried elderberries, whole and powdered cloves, ginger root, cinnamon stick.
FEELING: TART, JAMMY, WARMING
BENEFITS: IMMUNE BOOSTING, VITAMIN + ANTIOXIDANT POWERHOUSE, AIDS CIRCULATION, ANTI-INFLAMMATORY
BLEND: This syrup makes a sweet, tart and delightfully fizzy fruit forward kombucha combines powerful immune boosters with warming spices to create a tonic we’ve been told “tastes like pie”.
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Casa Tales:
This flavor is inspired by my sister Marian who makes a delicious elderberry honey tincture from her homestead in VT. When I first tried her mulled berry medicine I was inspired to make my own syrup for kombucha. Elderberries grow in much of the US so I planned a foraging trip in the Sierras. It proved to be one of the most gratifying forages as the infamous elderberries were weighing the branches of the beautiful shrubs down. With a few close friends we harvested a few bags full from the winding scenic roads just outside of Sierra National park. The following day while carefully separating the berries from the branches I reflected on the active meditation of making plant medicine. I love spending time working with my hands in the kitchen, these intimate moments of food preparation and contemplation with the plants are filled with inspiration. Making food in a conscious way is making edible art, from the colors, to the aromatherapy to the extraction and melding of flavors and healing benefits. In preparing this syrup I was invoking what I learned from herbalists is called the "folk method". This way of making an herbal preparation all about using your senses and knowledge of the common herb flavors of the spices with an intuitive measurement. If you bake, you know that clove is a powerful spice that is usually only used in tiny amounts. Well, this first batch got an extra dose of clove, and as a result it is not just a background note but it really comes through in the kombucha. Everyone who tried it loved it so much that I never dialed the clove back. I love powerful flavors and cuisines that take you on a journey. I love that Guayusa kombucha is the perfect blank canvas for these ingredients to each stand alone and also magically blend together to create a complex beverage that evolves with each sip. Since 2020 shifted the entire world and the pandemic created a climate full of fear and uncertainty around the most natural everyday activities, I have found faith and hope in plant medicine. I think of my elderberry spice kombucha as a protective elder aura that strengthens immunity.