There's a rosemary plant near the house that I walk past most days. Brush it with your hand and the smell sticks with you for an hour. At some point I stopped walking past it and started wondering what it would do in a ferment.
Ginger kombucha is everywhere. It's the safe flavor, the one everybody makes. Rosemary is not. It's woody and a little sharp and it doesn't usually show up in a can. But ginger and rosemary get along. Ginger brings the heat, rosemary keeps it grounded, and lime pulls the whole thing back to bright.
How we make it
Every Noli South flavor starts the same way. Organic green and white tea, cane sugar, and our culture, fermented for two weeks. That's the base. It's tart and clean and it tastes like kombucha should.
Then comes the second ferment, which is where this flavor is made. We juice fresh ginger. We bruise fresh rosemary so the oils come out. Both go in with fresh lime juice and the whole thing ferments for another two or three days. The culture eats some of the sugar out of the juice and pulls the flavor into the tea. You can't get that by adding juice at the end. It has to ferment together.
What it tastes like
Ginger first, with real heat. Then rosemary, more of a smell than a taste, sitting in the back. Lime at the end. It finishes dry. If you like a ginger beer that isn't sweet, this is that.
What to do with it
People drink it cold in the afternoon, mostly. It's also the one bartenders reach for. Gin, a splash of Rosemary Ginger, a squeeze of lime, done. Vodka works too. Or pour it over ice with a sprig of rosemary and skip the booze.
It goes with grilled anything, roast chicken, and food with a lot of salt.
The details
Ingredients: filtered water, organic kombucha culture, organic cane sugar, organic white tea, organic green tea, organic rosemary, organic ginger, organic lime. That's the whole list. No extracts, no flavoring, no juice concentrate.
12 oz cans, six to a pack. We ship anywhere in the US and shipping is free. If you're on the Gulf Coast, find us at the Seaside Farmers Market on Saturdays or at any of the cafes that carry us.
