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As I stood in my apartment looking at the bottom of my glass, its walls tinted marigold by the chilled and fermented chrysanthemum tea it had held up until that final sip, I thought, This might be the best? thing? I’ve...ever? drunk?
I think about this stuff when I’m out for a walk. I wonder aloud to the trees when I’ll be able to get more. My mouth waters when flashes of its tang and sweetness shoot across my taste memory and I can almost feel the weight of it on my palate, like my tongue is experiencing skin hunger.
It’s made by brewers Young Stowe and Graham Pirtle, who sell kombucha and jun, lightly fermented tea-based drinks sweetened with sugar and honey, respectively, through their label Unified Ferments. (While the small, Brooklyn-based company is a four-person operation, the two other partners prefer to remain in the background.)
In general, Unified is about transforming single-origin teas through fermentation, and the teas are grown and prepared by small farmers all over China from whom Stowe and Pirtle buy and import directly. “There are times where, as a tea person, I say, ‘Is this sacrilegious? To take these teas and comport them in a different direction?’” Pirtle admits. Not every tea is fit for fermenting, but he feels confident that, after lots of steeping and tasting and playing, they’ve chosen ones that express something new and unusual while still paying homage to their origin stories.
For this jun, Stowe and Pirtle don’t use just any chrysanthemums. They import toddler-sized bales of snow chrysanthemums found in and around northern China’s Kunlun Mountain range. The flowers grow slowly, becoming so nutrient-dense—they contain high amounts of amino acids and proteins—that ultimately, after the yellow daisy-like blooms with red centers are dried and brewed, the infused liquid has some heft to it. “When we open a bag, it has an almost Cheeto-like smell,” says Pirtle. “Because it's under snow for much of the year, it has to be so hardy and enduring.” Once fermented, the already rich tea becomes slightly oily, a texture that’s so seductive Stowe and Pirtle decided not to add any CO2. (They generally force-carbonate, instead of relying on bottle conditioning.) It’s kind of like:
But also:
And:
Preparation: Open and pour—into stemware. “So much of enjoying a glass of wine is about the nose, and since the teas we use are so aromatic, we drink it in stemware,” says Stowe. Plus, “everything we make is about delight. It's not about your gut biome. This stuff lives elegantly in stemware and drinking out of a nice wine glass is delightful.” Sold.
Flavor: Floral. Slightly tart. Starfruit. Honey. Butter. A little ham, even, depending on the batch.
Drink with: Dim sum. Or by its own damn self.
To purchase: Go to unifiedferments.com; $16 for one 750-milliliter bottle. (The site says that the Snow Chysanthemum Jun is sold out right now, but Stowe and Pirtle are restocking as I type.)
The annoying part: It’s only available in New York City for now. Stowe and Pirtle founded Unified Ferments in October 2019, started selling in January 2020, and then we all know what happened after that. Now, the company is back on its feet and the team is focused on getting bottles into restaurants, but it’s still a small operation, and mailing temperature-controlled beverages requires...a lot. Stowe and Pirtle tell me they plan on expanding shipping to the tri-state area soon, though.
Another favorite kombucha maker that does ship nationally is YesFolk Tonics based in Troy, New York. Similar to Unified, YesFolk’s approach is to let their single-origin teas shine. Unlike Unified, YesFolk’s brewers ferment those teas in oak barrels. (They’re one of only a few companies fermenting this way, start to finish. “The oak seems to round out and soften the acidity,” says co-owner Adam Elabd, “making our kombucha more gentle and less sharp than even if we were to use our same recipes but ferment in glass.”) I’ll be exploring both of these brands further along with some other kombucha makers soon in The Wall Street Journal.
Noted! Unified Ferments is now on my NYC list for our autumn trip. Thanks Julia!