Grapefruit Chia

Remember when your parents encouraged you to eat grapefruit for breakfast as a kid, because it's, like, one of the healthiest things you can put in your body? But you hated grapefruit, because it was so damn bitter (not to mention, hard to peel and you needed a special spoon to eat it!), and the only way you could tolerate it was by pouring sugar all over it?

Yeah, we remember. And though grapefruit is still just as bitter and hard to peel as it was back then, when you add it to your kombucha in second ferment, it becomes totally perfect. Blended with sweeter flavors like red apple and orange, it yields a perfectly tart-and-sweet, well-carbonated brew. The chia seeds are totally optional, but like adding just enough of them to make it a fun surprise when slurping down your fizzy booch. Plus, they are so good for you! Loaded with calcium, protein, and all sorts of other goodies.

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Tea Base: Sencha tea, loose-leaf + Assam, tea, loose-leaf (equal parts)
Second ferment ingredients (per 12 oz bottle): Organic chia seeds (1/2 tsp); Organic grapefruit juice (2 oz), organic beet juice (1/2 oz) organic red apple juice (1/2 oz); organic orange juice (1/2 oz); organic lemon juice (1 tsp).

Process:
Brew your kombucha to your usual tart/sweet preference; in colder weather, we recommend wrapping your vessel in a towel, to keep it nice and warm, and placing it in the darkest corner of your kitchen, on top of a paper towel.

For this batch, we used Maeda Sencha loose-leaf tea, which is our current favorite, and the organic assam from Two Leaves. You can use loose-leaf assam if you like. The blend of the two teas creates a really wonderful canvas for flavoring.

Soak your chia seeds in purified, warm water. (The ratio is 1 cup of water for 3 tbsp's of seeds). Place the bowl in the fridge, overnight. We used organic,  black chia seeds for this batch.

Once you have your soaked seeds, prepare your juice blend. We like juicing the fruits for this batch, because that lets us blend them easily. You can definitely skip the juicing and add fruit chunks (we do recommend juicing the lemon and beet, though). If you do juice, we highly suggest the Omega Juicer; it's da best.

Once you're ready to bottle, get your juice/fruits ready. Pour in the juice, making sure it's about 15-20% of the volume of your bottle. The more juice you add, the fizzier your brew will be; so if you want a bit less fizz and flavor, add just a splash of juice. Add your chia seeds, and pour in your kombucha. Seal tightly, and set in your kitchen cabinet for about 4 days.

Refrigerate, and enjoy!

If you're just starting on your brewing journey, be sure to be sure to check out our kit, scobies and come to one of our workshops!