Jun

Jun, or Xun, is a fermented drink similar to kombucha, differing only in that its base ingredients are green tea and honey instead of black tea and cane sugar. Jun is brewed by fermenting green tea (which has been sweetened with honey) with a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). Fruits, sweeteners, spices, and other flavor enhancers are also commonly added to make the taste of the beverage more appealing. Though Jun bears similarities to other fermented drinks like kombucha, water kefir, and kvass, it has enough differences to be considered a distinct drink. Background Origin and ingredients Jun can be thought of as a cousin of kombucha. Jun is composed primarily of green tea and honey, whereas kombucha is made of black tea and cane sugar. The fermentation process also requires a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). Jun has a sweeter taste, higher price, (due to the cost of its ingredients), and limited availability. Although it is still not clear where Jun was initially created, it is claimed by Western vendors to have been developed thousands of years ago by the monks of Bon in Tibet and northern China. American food writer Sandor Katz casts doubt on this claim, however, and believes it to be a modern invention that has been attributed to Tibet as a marketing gimmick: "The lack of credible information on the history of jun leads me to the conclusion that it is a relatively recent divergence from the kombucha family tree. Some websites claim that it comes from Tibet, where it has been made for 1,000 years; unfortunately, books on Tibetan food, and even a specialized book on Himalayan ferments, contain no mention of it."