HEX Kombucha is here!

HEX Kombucha is hand crafted in Baltimore. We start with a powerful strain of kombucha culture, organic  teas and organic cane sugar. After the first ferment we add small amounts of organic fruit juices, herbs and spices to our second ferment for our signature flavors. Our ingredients are carefully sourced from local community gardens, small companies that support fair trade and organic growing practices. 

HEX believes in the magical world of microbes and the body strengthening support that live cultures provides us. Each small batch of kombucha is carefully tended to from first ferment to your glass. We employ the Continuous Brew method, meaning that each batch is linked and carries with it the continuation of built-up taste and nutrients.

We are currently working hard on getting our product directly to you. HEX can be consumed currently at WC Harlan's in their delicious cocktails du jour or by the glass. Ask at the bar for contact information if you are interested in being added to our mailing list for HEX updates. 

HEX sign meaning on the current bottle- Love and Friendship: The two distelfink's embrace to show their love and friendship. One heart, symbolic of their love; the branches surround them confirming their everlasting friendship and the ring of raindrops showers them with life's bounty.

Current HEX Flavors:
Ginger
Thyme Ginger Orange
Oaxacan Hibiscus

Fermentation Workshop with Sandor Katz

So much has happened these past couple months that I can't believe that its been since early October since I last updated. Especially with the news of our long weekend adventure in Tennessee with Sandor Katz. Again, bag blogger, no biscuit. I also traveled to Lexington Kentucky to be part of a International performance art exhibition and our Thanksgiving at Phantom Ranch, at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. So needless to say, lots has been going on.

I'm looking forward to getting posts up about kefir, mead and our weekend with Sandor.

Stay fermented!

XOM

Kitchen at Short Mountain...wow

Kombucha Porn

I just can't help myself...

Yerba Mate Kombucha: Look at that lovely healthy scoby and yeast formation!

I seek out unique bottle varieties for my 'buch...

Flavors of the week: Organic Grapes, Hibiscus-Rose, Ginger, Spirulina. Not pictured: Lemon-Chia

Dosas with Kefir Mint Dressing and Local Honey-Greens

My intentions were good last Friday (the last day of summer) to begin the 3 day soaking journey for Dosas; a crispy savory pancake from South India. Yet, the Maryland Autumn tricked me, once again, into thinking that the cooler weather was on the way. After all I was looking forward to pulling on a sweater and wearing leggings with boots! Yet, the day when I went to fire up the stove to cook these delicious Dosas the humidity was back on the rise and the heat topped at 88 degrees. Oh well! Dosas don't wait.
A Dosa is a fermented pancake batter made from soaking brown rice, lentils and salt for up to 72 hours. They taste mildly tangy and rich; mostly from the ghee that you fry them in. They are traditionally served with chutneys, currys and daals, but I also like them with kefir dressing or with a curry in place of rice or quinoa, a fried egg or just plain straight from the frying pan. Dosas store well and can be used throughout the week for a quick lunch or dinner. Soaking and fermenting your grains and beans before cooking them helps to break down the phytic acid.

Soaking to remove the phytic acid is beneficial for these reasons:

*Untreated; phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc in the intestines and   block absorption of these minerals.

*Soaking allows enzymes and bacteria to break down and reduce phytic acid and releases vitamins that are  bound to the grain, making them readily available to your body.

*Soaking also partially breaks down gluten for easier digestion.

*Soak all grains and legumes at least 12 hours before cooking. It's easy, 1:1 grains/legumes and water with a tablespoon of lemon juice, whey, kefir or sourdough starter. Drain and prepare accordingly.

Dosas with Kefir Mint Dressing and Local Honey-Greens
Serves four 

In separate bowls or mason jars soak 1 cup of lentils (I used french green lentils which I would recommend, but it can be made with any type) and 2 cups brown rice. Rinse both first. Cover both with warm filtered water and a tablespoon of lemon juice, whey, kefir or sourdough starter (2 tablespoons for the rice).Cover with a plate or towel secured with a rubber band and set aside in the warmest place in your kitchen.

24 hours later drain each, blend separately in a vita mix or blender with just enough filtered water until smooth*. Combine and add enough filtered water to obtain the consistency of heavy cream (with granular texture) add 1 teaspoon of really good salt (I am a huge fan of Real Salt), stir well, cover and let ferment for another 24-48 hours, giving it the occasional stir and words of encouragement. 24 hours=mild tang
48=major tang. (I like major tang and I think they cook better.)

*You can add other spices to the batter at this time as well; good picks are fenugreek (3/4 teaspoon seeds), curry powder (3/4 teaspoon), or try some golden raisins with cinnamon for breakfast Dosas (two tablespoons chopped and 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon added when combined with the blended rice and lentils).

When the second ferment is over prepare the following:

A 1/3 cup ghee melted, oil brush, set aside near the pan
A small frying pan or crepe pan (stick or non-stick)
Small ladle or a 1/3 measuring cup

Set your oven to the warm setting and place a large plate with a towel inside your oven. Brush your frying pan with ghee and turn on the heat to medium-high. For a Vegan Dosa use grapeseed oil and not olive oil; grapeseed has a higher heat point than olive oil.

When your pan is hot ladle in your batter and swirl around to spread. Cook for 5 minutes. This is SUPER important because they will not flip properly if under cooked  How I test this is by gently shaking the pan after five minutes, if they are ready they will release; flip them over and cook for five more minutes. When done transfer to the oven and repeat. Usually I have two pans going at the same time so i'm not frying Dosas for an eternity. They may not be the quickest to make, but they are filling and will last for many meals, for very little cash.

When you are done prepare your greens like Kale, Rapini, Mustard, Cabbage or a mixture of all and with whatever else is in season or coming from the garden. I portion a cup and a half of chopped greens per person.
Heat olive oil or ghee in a large frying pan over medium heat for olive and medium high for ghee. When hot add and saute your greens until just wilted and bright. Turn off your heat and season to taste with salt. Add a sprinkle to taste of chili flakes and a generous drizzle of local honey. Mix together and set aside.

Prepare your Kefir or Yogurt dressing. Pour one cup into a glass jar with a lid, add a 1/4 teaspoon or more to taste of Real Salt, fresh chopped mint (optional) and shake. You can prepare this in advance and let it sit out on the counter. The longer it sits the better it gets!

Serve the Dosas topped with the Kefir Mint Dressing and Local Honey-Greens on the side.

I have a good feeling that this Autumn and Winter will be the seasons of Indian foods...stayed tuned and enjoy!
XOMC

Spicy-Sweet Beet Relish Ferment and Savory Vegetable Ferment

This spring I planted about 200 beet seeds. Chioggia and Detroit Reds. We ate the thinning's first followed by roasting the baby beets, then we boiled and skinned the big beets for salads and tasty snacks when they were at their peak. This past weekend I pulled the rest out to make a Spicy-Sweet Beet Relish ferment. Not really having a game plan other then the fact I had about 8 pounds of beets to use up and about a pound and a half of hot peppers. With those two as my base I decided to go for it...Now one interesting thing happened while I was prepping this ferment. I also had a hot water bath rolling for some pints of tomatoes and a pint of tomato juice left over from the canning workshop the day before. As I was putting the pints into the bath I stopped before putting the tomato juice in. It was giving off the recognizable sound of a fermented "hiss". Sure enough I opened it up and it was bubble-city. I took a sip and OMG! I just made tomato soda. No way was that going into hot water! It tasted SO GOOD!!! So I decided I would add it to my Spicy-Sweet Beet Relish to give it a sweet kick and jump start the ferment.

Spicy-Sweet Beet Relish Ferment
Makes about 2 quarts or 1 quart and 3 small jars

You will need: about 6-8 pounds of beets, boiled with the skins removed, allow to cool and chop into bite sized pieces. Two apples, cored and chopped to the same size as the beets. Three hot peppers, sliced into rings, seeds removed and toasted in a hot skillet until slightly charred. Remove from heat, cool and chop finely. Optional: a half cup of red grapes (I used organic seedless since they are in season right now) cut into quarters. Combine all into a large bowl with about a teaspoon of kosher salt. Mix and beat them around a bit until they start to give up some of their own juices. Then pack it into your jar, pack a bit press down, pack in more and press down, do this until you are about an inch and a half from the top. The goal is to remove as much of the air as you can and to cover the mixture with its own juices to create the anaerobic environment for the good bacteria to take over. Once it is packed you can finish it off with a small bit of salted water or fermented tomato soda, leave about an inch at the top. Cover with a lid. Set your ferment in a bowl to collect the juices that will inevitably pour out once the ferment gets to bubbling. Enjoy after the first three days then transfer to the fridge or cool cellar to store. Make sure you date it! This ferment tasted like magic after about 36 hours. Try it with a roasted meat dish or with fish. Or on its own!

How to make Tomato Soda: Juice 6 tomatoes, remove the seeds, pour into a jar with a lid, let it sit out for 24 hours, after that time it should be fizzy and ready to drink or use.

Savory Vegetable Ferment: Eggplant, Leeks, Swiss Chard, Peppers with Caraway and Cucumber
Makes about 2 quarts or one large jar

You will need: One large eggplant, cut up into bite sized pieces, 2 leeks washed well and sliced into thin rings (try to use as much of the leek as possible, greens too!), a medium sized bunch of Swiss Chard chopped into small pieces, stems too, 2 medium sized peppers chopped (I used 3 small chocolate peppers and one green pepper), combine into a large bowl with 2 teaspoons of kosher salt, mix and beat up until the vegetables give up their juices. Add about 1 teaspoon of caraway seeds to the mix. Stuff and pack the vegetables into your jar until the juices cover the vegetables. Then slice about 3/4 quarts of 1 medium sized cucumber and layer them over your vegetables pushing them down to weight the ferment when you have used up all the slices take the end piece place it in the middle and close up your ferment. Set your jar in a dish to catch the overflow of liquid. Taste at the three day point. You can move it to the fridge or keep it on the counter to eat from, remembering to transfer into subsequently smaller jars to keep the air from ruining it.

XOMC

The Color Red: New Kombucha Flavor & Lots of Tomaters

We had a busy weekend around the house...lots of sanding, painting, installing new bathroom and closet doors and finishing up the bedroom. All the little things are adding up and its starting to look really nice! Now with the ducks happily in their garden home we can relax a bit and get the rest of our home projects completed.
I wanted to share with you some of the flavors that appeared in our kitchen over the weekend; red was the default color of choice!
One of which is a new kombucha flavor that I am wild about. Cherry Chia with Yerba Mate (as opposed to black tea). The Yerba Mate gives the kombucha a less over the top tea flavor and instead allows the fermented flavors to sing. We are enjoying this batch of 'buch quite a bit; in fact I think it may be my best in a very long time. To make Cherry chia; add 1-2 teaspoons chia seeds to your bottle, remove the cherry stones from about 6 ripe washed cherries, cut into quarters, add the cherries to the chia and fill with brewed kombucha, swirl a bit of kombucha around to get the chia seeds wet, then fill to the bottom of the neck of your bottle. Cap and date...the cherries and chia become active really quickly (like minutes); burp your bottle the first couple of days and refrigerate for a couple days before you open; it's powerful!!!

The next flavor this weekend was tomatoes...lots and lots of juicy red-ripe tomatoes from the Eric Waller Community Garden and our front yard garden. I am letting them ripen just a tad more today before I can them whole tonight. We will have lots of delicious and local/organic tomatoes for winter stews! Yum!

XOMC

Sauerkraut

If you have never done a wild ferment before because you are afraid of  Botulism or mystery deadly bacteria and or stinking so bad that you scare away your friends and family, I am here to say; get over it.  It's so easy and risk free. Your gut will thank you and most importantly your taste buds will go wild! Not to mention your friends curiosity will be piqued with interest...you're doing what???

Be the envy of your agrarian social circle; make 'kraut.

How to make Sauerkraut 101...

You will need:
A Crock or other vessel like a large glass pickle jar, or large mason jars.
A plate that fits inside your crock/vessel that you can remove, or a root plug, which is a disc you can cut from a beet, turnip or even cabbage. This is used to place on top of your kraut to press it down so the brine covers it. A weight to place on top of your plate or plug like a jug or small glass jar filled with water, a zip-lock filled with water or salted water, a big cleaned rock. A towel to cover your kraut and a big rubber band or string to secure it.
You can make sauerkraut with one large head of cabbage or 20+. It all depends on the size of your fermentation vessel. We had 3 large heads of cabbage from the garden, we used our 5 gallon crock and it was only a third full. Salt; any salt without iodine will do, we always use Real Salt and some kosher salt. We also added whole caraway seeds and four apples, both are optional, in my opinion they add a nice balance to the cabbage. Shred your cabbage and apples with the blade attachment of your food processor, or your mandolin, or grated by hand or sliced by hand. We like ours thin. You may like it more chunky. There is no right or wrong way! Dump your beautiful cabbage-apple confetti into your vessel; start with a sprinkle of salt over it and massage the mixture with your hands. The goal is to break down the cellular walls of the cabbage to release its water content, the salt will help pull more water from the cabbage throughout the whole fermentation process, your hands are just getting it started. Optional, but a lot of fun, is if you have an old wooden baseball bat or pounding mallet, use that if your hands are tired or if you are fermenting a ton of kraut, clean it and pound away.

The goal is to create enough brine so when you place the plate or plug and press down the brine covers the kraut. Now taste test your cabbage, you want it just salty enough, kinda like how sea water tastes...too salty? Add some fresh water, let it set for a bit then drain, but the goal is to taste as you go and add, you don't want to lose any flavor by diluting it with extra water. Once the flavor is right add in some caraway, mix it in, then cover and press with your plate or plug. Enough brine? Good, add your weight, towel and secure it. Place in a cool area like your basement. Ferments will develop faster in the heat of the summer and should be consumed instead of stored for the long haul. In the fall you can put up kraut for the winter, it will ferment slowly and you can keep it in the vessel and take what you need.
In a couple of days taste it. There may be some white sheets on the surface of the brine, this is mold and is totally normal. Remove the weight and skim away the mold, if you don't get all of it, not to worry, go under the brine and pull up some kraut for your taste test. Mix in the mold, the anaerobic and lactic acid environment you created will kill it. Our Kraut took about 6 days to come to the flavor we liked, I could tell it was done when I could smell it. We skimmed off the mold and packed it into four quart sized mason jars. We will eat one now and place the other three in our cellar-like environment in our basement, dated for later use. If you don't have a spot like this in your house the refrigerator is the best place. Or give some away to your friends and have a bratwurst party!

Heres to your happy gut!
XOMC