Now and Again

As you guys know, here at TGBK we primarily focus on nutritious food recipes but love a good adult drink now and again. But we think that adult beverages can provide nutritional benefit too - believe it or not! This week we created a drink inspired by a Cosmopolitan (Sex and the City flashbacks anyone?) but with a very important ingredient swap. We switched out the traditional juice ingredient for a flavored kombucha. And if you remember from our previous kombucha post (here), kombucha is packed full of gut friendly probiotics to help support healthy digestion and immunity. So while enjoying your next hard drink, why not get your daily dose of probiotics while you're at it? This recipe can also be made as a "mocktail" without liquor so there are tons of ways to indulge! If this all sounds good to you, let's get to the recipes.

Kombucha Cocktail or Mocktail
PREP TIME: 5 minutes (+ 48 hours to ferment kombucha with juice)
TOTAL TIME: 5 minutes (+ 48 hours to ferment kombucha with juice)
Servings: 2

Ingredients
4 oz cherry kombucha (homemade - instructions below or store bought)
2 oz vodka (for mocktail omit and add additional 2 oz cherry kombucha)
2 oz cherry juice
2 Tbsp simple syrup
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 thin lime slices for garnish 
Ice 

Flavored Kombucha
To make basic kombucha follow our directions here. Once basic kombucha is prepared, strain the kombucha from the SCOBY making sure to reserve at least 1/2 cup of basic kombucha liquid for your next batch. Fill a glass bottle/bottles 2/3 of the way full with basic kombucha and fill remaining 1/3 of the bottle/bottles with fruit juice of choice (we used tart cherry juice from Door County for this recipe) leaving 1-2 inches of space at the top of the jar. Place a tight fitting lid on each bottle and allow to sit out at room temperature to ferment for 48 hours. Keep in mind it is important to use a juice that contains sugar. Yeast in the kombucha will feed off of the sugar in the juice and continue to ferment the kombucha. The longer you let the kombucha ferment with the juice, the less sweet and the more acidic the final product will taste. This fermentation time may also create more carbonation in your final kombucha. A good rule of thumb is to taste the kombucha each day until it's to your liking then store in the fridge until ready to drink. If you do not have the time to make homemade kombucha but you would like to try out this recipe, store bought cherry, berry, or cranberry kombucha would also work well. 

Simple Syrup
To make simple syrup combine equal parts sugar and water in a small sauce pan. Simmer mixture on low, stirring often until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has thicken up into a syrup like texture, ~3-5 minutes. Allow to cool then store in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. Simple syrup can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 month.  

Cocktail/Mocktail
Add kombucha, vodka (if using), cherry juice, simple syrup, lime juice, and ice to a cocktail shaker and shake mixture well. Strain cocktail into 2 martini glasses, add a lime slice to each glass for garnish and serve cold.

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This cocktail/mocktail has a nice amount of tartness from the cherry juice and fermented kombucha and easily disguises that this drink may contain vodka - so be careful! We love the unique taste of this adult beverage and use for kombucha and hope you do too.

Cheers!
Jess and Cecelia