Basil Kombucha

This Spring, we set out to make a basil flavored kombucha. It has always been a fun summer flavor, but we never felt like we got a strong basil flavor, especially as we scaled up our batches. In the spring, the local farmers markets do not have a lot of mature cut basil to sell, so instead we bought a flat of small basil plants (18) and planted them in our small garden patch at home. The basil started growing in May and has never stopped! It loves the hot dry midwest summers. We have taken many cuttings from these 18 plants that just keep giving. The leaves have been dried and stored away in hopes to enjoy it all winter long.

Early in the summer, we attempted a few basil flavors and it just didn't come through as much as we wanted. So, this time around, we used what can only be described as a sh*t ton. Guess what!?!?!? This week's Strawberry Basil is spot on and you will definitely be able to taste the basil, which is balanced nicely with the sweet juicy strawberries. Over the years, we have tried lots of different plants in our garden, but none have ever produced like our basil this year.  We think that we got a return on our investment with this one :)

p.s.  We also made a big batch of pesto!