I meet Alesia Miller. She's into mangos too.: Ginger Mango Peach by Soul Brew Kombucha

Having been suitably impressed by Soul Brew's BLM, I returned to the Willy Street Co-op to grab another of their flavors. While scanning the cooler I noticed that they also carried Rude Brew Kombucha, a brand from here in Madison. I knew there was another kombuchaery in town! They're next. Probably.

As I noted previously, the Co-op - at least the northside branch - has three flavors from Soul Brew. I stood there staring at the cooler trying to decide which one to try next when I had the bright idea of just buying both of the flavors I'd not yet had. This time around I chose Ginger Mango Peach because it was the only one of the three that wasn't red/purple. Alesia Miller must be a fan of the mango as this was the second of her brews to feature it.

I thought that BLM was brewed with real fruit and so was surprised to see that there is none here. Instead fruit flavored teas are used. This doesn't mean that, say, dried fruits weren't used in those teas but that vision of fresh fruit bathing in Miller's kombucha with ginger bath balls is just a fantasy.

This tea was a hazy yellow and it looked like there were bits of pulp inside. But since fruit isn't a part of the recipe, what did I see? Speaking of seeing, I saw the SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) inside the bottle and wondered how kombucha brewers get a perfectly portioned bit of SCOBY in every bottle. And why is the glob of fermenting goodness always round?

Lastly, I'll note that there was a fair number of bubbles inside.

A vinegar tang was prominent on the nose while the fruity aromas seemed to be mainly of mango and peach.

Unsurprisingly I got a healthy dose of fizz on my first sip. Not as much as with the BLM but more than other brands of kombucha I've tasted. Beneath that I could taste the herbal goodness of the black and green teas followed by mango, ginger, and peach. My tongue got a little bite of tannin when I swallowed along with lemon, green tea, and a hint of mint.

As with BLM, this stuff should be consumed after warming up a tad. This allows the lemon and mint to come out on the zesty finish and gives the fruity flavors their chance to become more prominent overall. I really enjoyed this kombucha and adored how the herbal tea flavors melded with the fruity ones. Plus the sweetness was nicely restrained.

While I'm on the topic of sweetness, the bottle says "no added sugar" while cane sugar is the fourth ingredient. I mean, the SCOBY needs something to eat, right? So I am unsure what the "no added sugar" is supposed to convey here. Is this stuff highly attenuated with all the sugar getting gobbled up and no sugar is added after fermentation?

Regardless, another winner here from Soul Brew. A nice tang, generally balanced fruit flavors, and just the perfect amount of fizz. Plus the lemon-mint on the finish was icing on the cake. I loved that little zip at the end.

Taking the Rude Brew Plunge

I've meant to drink more kombucha than I do for a while now. It's tea and I like tea. (I've taken the Nestea plunge many times.) It is fermented and I like fermented foods. (Beer! Sauerkraut!) But I drink the stuff very sporadically. (Boo!)

Kombucha is prepared by adding a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast - that slimy thing floating inside your bottle) to sweetened tea - usually black tea, from my experience. You let it sit for a couple of weeks and voila! You've got kombucha. At some point in the process of making the commercial stuff, fruit (juice?), spices, and/or flowers are added. Probably sugar surplus to fermentation requirements too. Some of the stuff on store shelves has a fair amount of sugar in it. Kombucha contains at least some alcohol in it. I think I see "<0.5%" on bottles. I'm not sure if the fermentation process simply produces very little of it or it is removed. It must be the former. Removing alcohol is a complex and expensive process.

Kombucha has some fizziness and so there's a little bit of a bite to the drink along with a bit of tartness.

It doesn't seem that long ago that it was available only at the Willy Street Coop or a similar store. Then a brand or 2 from the west coast appeared in the coolers of more mainstream grocers. Soon enough Madisonians got in on things and we had local kombucha. At some point the drink became big business and now my supermarket's cooler has a whole lot of kombucha in it with maybe 1 local brand, if any. It's a big business these days and I can't help but think that behind the tie dye labels lurk a Kraft or other mega food corporation product. So I buy local, when possible.

A more recent purchase was Wisco Buds & Petals from Madison's Rude Brew.

 

 

Rude Brew dates back to 2017 when proprietor Lacy Rude threw caution to the wind and decided to become a purveyor of kombucha. The bottle gives an address on Sherman Avenue so it seems that she makes her tea at that northside shared commercial kitchen that I cannot remember the name of.

This brew has black & green teas along with elderflower, roses, hops, lavender, lemongrass, and Wisconsin hemp. Sounds delightful!

It looks like a gold color that's had a fair amount of red added to it - something like a white zinfandel. Opening the bottle released a fair amount of fizz. It smelled sweet and floral.

Since the weather gods had mistaken Madison for Phoenix, the temperature outside was 100 degrees and I was happy to find that the kombucha was light and fizzy with a not insignificant amount of tang to it. It tasted floral and herbal and the lemongrass with its floral-citrus thing was fairly prominent. Plus just a hint of sweetness.

I really loved this stuff, especially the floral taste. It wasn't too strong but there was no mistaking the presence of flowers. Just as the label promised, it was a herbal union and a delicious one.