By Joanna Biafore, CNP
Photo Credit: Leanne Neufeld
Summer is the season of fire!
The warmth of the sun has this amazing ability to ignite love, abundance and stir our rested souls. However, with fire comes the respected need to balance our hot constitutions with cooling foods and drinks. I always find great pleasure in crafting gut-healing elixirs this time of year to sip away into the magical twilight of the evening. As a maker of fermented foods, I usually incorporate Jun and Kombucha as the base of most of my mixers. Kombucha is black tea and sugar fermented with a scoby (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast), while Jun is made with green tea, raw honey and fermented with a scoby. I have a love for both but am partial to Jun as it’s a little lighter in flavour. The bubbly beverages are not only good for the gut, they are low calorie, low sugar, rich in probiotics, prebiotics, live enzymes and electrolytes.
So, without further ado, here are a few of my favourite cocktails and mocktail mixer recipes for you to enjoy as well. Here’s to health, summer and you.
THE HEALTHY PIRATE
Who doesn’t love a fun and tropical drink? For the Rum drinkers out there, you can experiment with both dark and white rum. I personally prefer a spiced rum because it pairs nicely with both the ginger and cinnamon in the Jun. Fancy it up with a fruity garnish.
Ingredients: Makes 1 Serving
½ Cup Ginger Jun or Kombucha
3 Tbsp Pineapple Juice
1 oz Spiced Rum
1/2 tsp Honey
Garnish with Pineapple slice and Ginger Stick
Ice
To Make:
Combine all ingredients and mix. Pour over crushed ice in a tall chilled glass and garnish with a pineapple slice and cinnamon stick.
A CLEANER CAESAR
Our Caesar loving friends take this drink VERY seriously. When done properly this bevy can replace a meal with a creative skewer here and your homemade pickles, there. Using the brine from Kimchi, it keeps this drink clean. It’s a vitamin and mineral rich, probiotic good time.
Ingredients: Makes 1 Serving
1.5 oz vodka
½ oz Kimchi Brine*
4 Dashes Worcestershire sauce
2 Dashes of Hot Sauce
3 Dashes of Salt and Pepper
5 oz Clamato juice
Celery salt on plate
1 Organic lime
To Make:
Combine all ingredients in a shaker and rim the glass with lime, pepper and celery salt. Finish it off with your garnish of choice like pickles, celery, limes and thyme.
* Note: Kimchi Brine Gut Tonic also sold on www.justshutupuandtryitferments.com !
BLUSHING PEACH JUN MOCKTAIL
For a sweet summertime treat without the guilt, enjoy this low sugar, low calorie spin on a Daiquiri. Wait until the peaches are in season to really enjoy this mocktail. Peaches are packed with health promoting compounds, vitamins and minerals.
Ingredients: Makes 1 Serving
2 Cups Jun
1 Tbsp Honey (plus more to garnish)
½ Lime, squeezed
2 Fresh organic peaches
Ice
To Make:
Pour all ingredients into a blender and mix well. Strain and top with honey. Garnish with mint, and a peach slice.
BERRY JUN & POMEGRANATE MOCKTAIL
Bubbles, berries, probiotics, prebiotics and of course the sweet juice of seasonal fresh berries. This drink has a beautiful pinky hue and looks lovely in a Martini glass.
Ingredients: Makes 1 Serving
½ Cup Berry Jun
½ Cup Strawberry/Raspberry Juice
1 Tbsp Honey
1 Dash of Cinnamon
Ice
To Make:
Juice your berries of choice.
Combine ingredients and dress it up with Rosemary and fresh frozen berries.
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Joanna is a Certified Holistic Practitioner, passionate about providing a holistic approach to nutritional counselling in order to achieve optimal health. She believes in real food and a practical approach to preventing illness. Joanna sees clients at The East End Family Wellness Clinic in Toronto and specializes in Pediatric Nutrition and Gut Health with special interest in behavioural disorders such as ASD, ADD, ADHD and depression. She is also the Co-founder of “Just Shut Up and Try it Ferments” an online Wild Fermented food store which delivers nationwide.