Wild Foods with April Danann: Kombucha

Wild Foods with April Danann: Kombucha

Learn how to make kombucha with April Danann.

We are looking back at our Wild Food series with April Danann. She has also published an e-book on fermentation which is online .99cents and you can purchase here.

While kombucha is usually made from black tea, April has a fantastic method for making herbal kombucha from herbal teas, spices and fruits. She calls it “herbucha” and it’s naturally caffeine free. You can experiment with different ingredients and flavours and can use foraged or bought dried herbs, or even shop-bought herbal teas.

Apart from the main benefit of being great for your gut health, herbucha also goes rather nicely with a bit of gin or your favourite tipple.

Herbucha with Camomile, Ginseng & Raspberry

Ingredients:

• 1.5l cooled brewed herbal tea (flavour of your choice)
• 1l boiled water
• 2 large handfuls camomile & ginseng mix (or other herbs of your choice)
• 2-3 pieces young scoby or mother
• 100g white sugar
• 250ml fermented herbucha, optional
• 200g frozen raspberries

Method:

1. Pour cooled herbal tea into a large, clean glass jar then add the boiled water.
2. Fill a “sock” or large teabag with the dried herbs, then tie closed. Tip: You can also use a clean square of cloth and use string to tie it closed.
3. Add the teabag to the liquid along with the scoby and sugar. Optional, add the already fermented herbucha. Tip: Adding already fermented herbucha adds flavour as well as encourages the fermentation.
4. Gently stir to mix all the ingredients then place a square of clean kitchen towel or paper towel over the top of the jar and secure with an elastic band. Tip: It’s important to seal the top with something that allows air to pass through it while keeping out bugs etc.
5. Set aside at room temperature to ferment for 5-7 days. Tip: In warmer weather, fermentation will be quicker, so you can taste the herbucha at day 4 or 5 to see if you like it. In colder weather, taste at day 6 or 7.
6. If you’re happy with your herbucha as is, then decant the herbucha into a clean jar, removing the teabag and scoby, and keep in the fridge to enjoy.
7. For a second ferment, decant into a clean jar, removing the teabag and scoby, and add frozen raspberries. Tip: Fresh raspberries may have mould on them which you want to avoid adding to your herbucha, so using frozen berries should be used to avoid this.
8. Leave at room temperature for 6-12 hours, then decant into a clean jar, discarding the raspberries (they will be completely white at this stage as the colour and flavour steeps into the herbucha) and it’s ready to be enjoyed.
9. Store herbucha in the fridge in sealed glass bottles or jars and serve chilled. Will keep for at least a month. If kept longer, the flavour will change and it will become less sweet.

A bit more about April…

April Danann is a Medical Intuitive, Naturopathic Nutritionist and practitioner of Herbal Medicine with a focus on gut health and has many years of experience. She has received a BSc (Hons) in Food Management & Marketing, MSc in Nutrition and Exercise Science as well as diplomas in Nutrition, Medical Intuition and Food Packaging Technology. She is currently working on her PhD and has recently qualified in Iridology.

April is in private practice combining this education and experience into assisting clients with diet, lifestyle and conscious living and does occasional talks in natural Nutrition, Fermentation and Intuition and for women in business.

Although she continues to produce some of the best apple cider vinegar, herbal kombucha and herbal products; her interest has shifted towards health potential and creating in-depth residential courses for nature centred studies.

‘Who I am really, aside from what I have learned, experienced and the places I have been – is a person deeply committed to fully understanding my body, mind and soul on the deepest levels. My books, blogs and life are all about living as close to nature and health as possible.’

You can find April at the Skibbereen Farmer’s Market most weekends and sometimes at Dun Laoighaire market. April has some amazing products such as her famous Herbucha and Apple Cider Vinegar.

Visit her website to find out what she’s up to… https://www.aprildanann.com/