Our first white tea Kombucha was made with an exceptional tea called Ya Bao, which is also known as Ming Qian Wild Arbor Tips.
This particular Ya Bao, is a type camellia sinensis var. assamica. And it comes from Dehong in Yunnan Province, China.
To find out more about different types of Ya Bao, please check out Verdant Tea's excellent comparison on their website.
We obviously tried this tea hot, but is is also exceptional, when it is cold-brewed.
It really has a lot of flavor, when prepared this way.
Here are two shots from our cold-brewing session.
The tea is made from undeveloped tea buds which are hand picked from wild tea bushes in March.
After picking, they are sun dried and processed like a white tea.
The tea that comes from steeping those buds is unlike any other tea. It is very fruity, with both orange and tropical notes. There are some hints of cedar and pine, as well as vanilla and a bit of honey. Obviously those notes will differ depending on the variety of Ya Bao, on also depending on the terroir.
Because this tea is picked by hand from wild bushes, it's a bit expensive, with the price hovering around 150 € a kilo.
Taste-wise, it's worth it. Both as a tea, and as Kombucha.
For Kombucha, wee steep it gently for about 20 minutes to get the most flavor out of it.
And then, it gets transformed, with the help of one of our lively cultures, into an exceptional drink.
Once it's fully fermented, it goes into our retail bottles.
Those bottles have the name hand-written right below the logo.
And, an artsy shot from our recent run (August, 2022).
After the fermentation, flavor profile changes and now this Kombucha has an intense flavor reminiscent of gooseberries.
So, what a difference, when compared to the flavors that were coming out in a steeped tea.
Below are two vintage shots from 2018.
Cheers!
Ingredients: Filtered and Revitalized Water, Live Kombucha Cultures, Unrefined Brown Sugar, Ya Bao (Ming Qian Wild Arbor Tips)