It’s flower season!
Edible flowers are such a beautiful and tasty ingredient. Below is a roundup of past posts that highlighted the use of flowers in the kitchen.
Chive Blossom Fritters (look at that bee bum!)
Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Icing & Rose Petals
I’m pretty sure I’ve mastered homemade kombucha, and I’m sharing my new favorite recipe below. Follow our instructions and you’ll create a nice citrus-flavored kombucha with a light floral aroma. yay!
Kombucha seems to be a drink that can divide a crowd. People either love it or hate it. Sarah and I are strongly in the love camp! I drank my first bottle about a decade ago, knowing nothing about it, but being drawn in by the cute bottle (and wanting to taste anything named “Wonder Drink”!). The flavor of that first bottle was odd, yet addicting, and ever since I’ve loved trying new flavors and brand.
Fast forward all these years, imagine my delight when I was biking down the bike path in Boulder and sidewalk chalk signs pointing me toward’s Rowdy Mermaid‘s kombucha taproom! During Sarah’s first visit to Boulder, we stopped in to sample the goods. Fast forward a year, and during another of Sarah’s visits, we were introduced to Upstart Kombucha while walking down Pearl Street. We’re partial to Upstart’s rose bud variety, but will take any bottle in a pinch! Needless to say, kombucha culture (haha!) is going strong here in Boulder. We’re lucky to have some many local brands at our fingertips and love them all! Even so, we couldn’t help but get in on the DIY kombucha craze, and the nudge to do so came when our mama gave us this book for Christmas.
The internet is full of information about kombucha, including many sites and youtube videos that walk you through the process of making a batch at home. Consider this post an introduction to kombucha and a starter brewing guide. If you have questions and/or comments, please get in touch!
If you follow our Instagram, you know that I spent the past two weeks in Boulder, Colorado with Katie. I had a great time catching up with my nephew, baby A, and the rest of the Colorado crew. We had such a great time that we may have slacked off on the Seasoned front last week, notice that? Unfortunately, I’m home now, but the good news is I have plenty of time to blog and lots of material from CO to share with you all.
There is no way that I could pick a favorite activity or day from my Boulder vacation, but the kombucha tasting room was definitely the most unique outting. I had never been to a kombucha taproom and to be honest, for the longest time, I thought I disliked the brew altogether. Never heard of it? I think this post is a helpful introduction. I usually describe it as a fermented tea, but that usually always turns people altogether off immediately. I have to admit, initially I was turned off too.
Back in the day, Katie used to share sips of her State College farmers market kombucha and after the first few tries I would politely decline. “Thanks, but no thanks.” It wasn’t until this past Summer that I really enjoyed a glass of kombucha. I took a trip to the Honeysuckle Tea House and tried a glass of the Fire kombucha, which is a blend of ginger and spices. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. It was simply an earthy, carbonated drink and it was healthy to boot! Just like that, I was a convert. I was ready and willing to taste test away, so off we went to the Rowdy Mermaid Kombucha Taproom in Boulder.
We decided to order two flights of 4 glasses each. Flights are only $6 and there were exactly 8 drinks on tap, so how could we not? When Davidleo, our server and kombucha brewer, placed our flights on the counter I was blown away. The colors were vibrant and beautiful. Each glass had its own distinct aroma and flavor and I can say, without a doubt, that I enjoyed every single one. This is huge for me. I went from shying away from ALL kombuchas to sipping down eight different flavors. I felt a little bit giddy. I had discovered a new career, kombucha taste tester. Ok, you’re right, I’ll slow down and keep my day job, but I was really pumped about this new self-discovery. I’m a kombucha lover! I might even stick the kombucha bumper sticker on my subaru.. it’s that serious.
After taking a handful of tiny sips from each glass, Kate and I both decided on our favorites. I couldn’t get enough of the Pineapple Tumeric, while Kate was all about the Deep Forest. Some were definitely more earthy and effervescent than others, which is why we decided on a fruity and sweet variety to take home to the family. We figured they would be more inclined to try our strange fermented tea if we called it something like ‘strawberry fizz’ instead of Morning Dew or Flower Grow. While we were successful in having our mom, bro and Calder try the strawberry kombucha, they definitely didn’t dig it. I think they need to suck it up and visit the taproom, try all eight and then tell me what they think, but for some reason that plan went in one ear and out the other…
Katie here: It’s so great to hear Sarah’s experience with kombucha and her slow change of heart! I’m partial to fizzy, not too sweet, slightly odd tasting drinks, so I loved kombucha from my first sip. That said, I’m not too adventurous, and when I’m paying $2/bottle and sometimes more; I often stick to the basic flavor that I know I love (for me it usually involves a touch of ginger). That’s why, even as a devotee, going to the tasting room was a great experience for me – opening my palate to the amazingly wide variety of flavors that I could have been enjoying all of these years! I also love what you can learn when you go to a tasting and talk to the brewer. I had assumed that all kombuchas would have caffeine because they are usually made from green or black teas, but they don’t have to be! This shop offered a couple of caffeine free varieties, using herbal teas as their base.
Hanging out at the kombucha bar and getting a buzz fizz on was surely a highlight of my Colorado vaca. I’ve been thirsty for some fermented tea ever since so I’ve been researching other kombucha taprooms. I wish I’d done this yesterday when I was in Charlotte, I could have hit up Lenny Boy Breweing Co…