Something totally new as a special.
A super yummy Kombucha made with an herb called Creeping Charlie.
Creeping Charlie (der Gundermann in German) or Ground Ivy is a perennial herb with a Latin name Glechoma hederaceae.
Creeping Charlie is a nice name, but our favorite comes from Polish: Bluszczyk Kurdybanek.
As a plant, it is classified as a creeper from a mint family. Although, it is considered to be an invasive species in some countries, Ground Ivy is a medicinal herb here in Europe, and has been used in many countries for thousands of years.
In Wikipedia you can find the following:
"Glechoma hederacea has been used in the traditional medicine of Europe going back thousands of years: Galen recommends the plant to treat inflammation of the eyes. John Gerard, an English herbalist, recommended it to treat tinnitus, as well as a "diuretic, astringent, tonic and gentle stimulant. Useful in kidney diseases and for indigestion." It has also been used as a "lung herb." Its presence as an invasive weed in North America is the result of the value placed on it by European settlers as a medicinal herb and ale preservative; the species was imported and widely cultivated in herb and kitchen gardens.[11] Other traditional uses include as an expectorant, astringent, and to treat bronchitis.[12] In the traditional Austrian medicine the herb has been prescribed for internal application as salad or tea for the treatment of a variety of different conditions including disorders associated with the liver and bile, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, kidneys and urinary tract, fever, and flu.[13] "
Another thing not mentioned above is the fact that Ground Ivy helps with digestion.
Some other interesting uses for this herb were: "ale-making" before the use of hops, and also in cheese-making, as a substitute for rennet.
Normally Ground ivy is used in two different ways. Either the leaves and flowers are added to salads, or one can make tea out of it, by steeping it in hot water.
In older times, especially in Poland, Ground Ivy was used like one uses parsley, chopped and added to soups or meals, as a seasoning.
We have fallen in love in tea made with this delicious herb. That gave us an idea to make it into Kombucha.
Below, are some pics from the Kombucha production. As with other herbal Kombucha, we only use Ground Ivy to make it. No Camellia sinensis is added here.
Here's a bowl with freshly picked Ground Ivy.
Next, we steep it in hot water to make the "tea".
When it cools down, we strain it, and we proceed with it, like with any other Kombucha that we make. After the proper fermentation, our Ground Ivy Kombucha goes into bottles.
And then the second fermentation takes place, and further conditioning in the fridge.
Since it's a new product, we also keep some Ground Ivy in a glass so that our customers can see how it looks like.
So here we have it as an herb, and in the form of Kombucha.
And the same combination, but out there in the wild.
Ingredients: Filtered and Revitalized Water, Live Kombucha Cultures, Unrefined Brown Sugar, and Ground Ivy
Note: the cover pic also features a patch of young flowering Ground Ivy, but the one that has been exposed to full sun, hence the purple color of the top leaves.