With a bit of preparation and forethought, these so-called “living teas” can add some unique characteristics to your cocktails. 如果處理得當，這些所謂“活著的茶”能夠為雞尾酒帶來獨一無二的特質。

四處尋找雞尾酒新原料的調酒師們早就搭上了美食趨勢這趟順風車。而在過去數年間受健康食品達人追捧的康普茶再次證明了這一點。康普茶是一種發酵茶：盡管雞尾酒和所謂的健康“功能食品”似乎風牛馬不相及，但它憑借自身巨大的調酒潛力受到了全球調酒師們的歡迎。當然，調酒師早已習慣了和發酵液體合作——想想葡萄汁、糖蜜和大麥吧——它們大都是在受控條件下細心生產，采用了特定的酵母菌株和發酵溫度。而康普茶的特點稍有不同。它是在加糖的茶中加入由細菌和酵母組成的菌種（稱為SCOBY，意為“細菌和酵母的共生菌落”），生成一種帶少許氣泡的低酒精飲品，酒精度通常為1度左右。在發酵期間，酵母產生了酒精，細菌又將酒精轉化成醋酸。這有點像食醋的制作過程。最后生成的酒富有質感，酸中帶甜，非常適合用于調制雞尾酒。由于具有酸味，康普茶可以用作酸味劑。記住，雞尾酒中的酸味不一定來自柑橘類水果，而甜味也不總是來自糖漿。

Bartenders have long piggy-backed on food trends when looking for new ingredients for their cocktails. Increasingly fashionable with health-food aficionados in the past few years, kombucha – a fermented tea pronounced “kahm-booch-ah” – is the latest example. While, on the face of it, cocktails and so-called healthy “functional foods” make unlikely bedfellows, the tea has become increasingly popular with bartenders around the world drawn to its eminently mixable characteristics. Of course, bartenders are used to working with fermented liquids – think, grape juice, molasses, barley – most of them are very carefully produced under controlled conditions, with specific strains of yeasts and fermentation temperatures. Kombucha, though, is a slightly different prospect. Starting with a sugar-sweetened tea, a “starter”, or “mother” culture, of bacteria and yeast, known as a SCOBY – “symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast” – is introduced to produce a lightly sparkling and faintly alcoholic drink (usually around one per cent abv). During the fermentation, yeasts produce alcohol, which are then converted in to acetic acid by the bacteria – kind of like how vinegar is produced. The result is a textured, sweet-sour liquid perfectly suited to balancing cocktails. With its tart profile, kombucha tea can be used as a souring agent – remember, the acid in a cocktail doesn’t always have to come from citrus, just as sweet doesn’t have to come from sugar syrup.

更妙的是，標準的康普茶可以用新鮮水果或香料調味，甚至還可以和其他茶混合后裝瓶，進行二次發酵。這會產生更多氣泡，因為剩下的酵母會釋放二氧化碳。如果處理得當，這些所謂“活著的茶”能夠為雞尾酒帶來獨一無二的特質。

Even better, standard kombucha tea can be flavoured with fresh fruits or spices or even blended with other teas and bottled for a second fermentation. This produces extra carbonation as the remaining yeasts give off carbon dioxide. With a bit of preparation and forethought, these so-called “living teas” can add some unique characteristics to your cocktails.

康普茶在美國頗為流行，但最著名和最成功的康普茶手工雞尾酒來自倫敦Artesian酒吧。這款名為迷彩的雞尾酒以金酒、美國佬味美思、胡蘿卜、青檸汁、檀香糖漿、苦精和35毫升康普茶調制而成，盛放在銅菠蘿中，得到了國際酒類媒體的廣泛報道。Artesian調酒師主管Alex Kratena表示，如果條件有限，從商店購買的茶是不錯的代替品。“我們以前是自制，但很快發現無法制作出足夠的量。”他說。現在他們用的是一個商業品牌，但Kratena堅稱制作過程“簡單得很”。不過有些地方必須小心。“最重要的是，和任何發酵液體一樣，如果用密封（玻璃）容器來裝，它就是一個真的會爆炸的定時炸彈！”他建議用塑料瓶來裝——至少在你熟悉碳酸化的程度以前。由于中國有各種各樣的茶，Kratena表示你可以通過試驗來找出效果最好的那種，但要避免使用格雷伯爵或其他以油調味的茶，因為它們會干擾SCOBY的成長。

While the tea is popular in the US, probably the best known and most successful example of a kombucha craft cocktail comes from Artesian in London. Widely buzzed-about in the international drinks press, Camouflage, served in a brass pineapple, mixes gin, Cocchi Americano, carrot and lime juice with sandalwood syrup, bitters and 35ml of kombucha tea. Artesian’s head bartender Alex Kratena says store-purchased tea is a dependable stand-in if space, and time, is limited. “We used to make our own – but we soon realised we weren’t able to keep up with production,” he says. They now used a commercial brand but, still, Kratena insists the brewing process is “dead simple.” Some caution is advised, though. “Most importantly, as with any fermenting liquid – if stored in closed [glass] containers, it’s a time bomb that can literally explode!” Plastic bottles are advised, he adds, at least until you’re familiar with the rates of carbonation. With so many different types of tea available in China, Kratena suggests experimenting to see which ones work best (but avoid Earl Grey or other oil-flavoured teas as they interfere with the growth of the SCOBY).

有些酒吧在試驗其他發酵原料。倫敦White Lyan可能是世界上最前衛的酒吧之一，它以一種類似的方法來制作風味成分，用于瓶裝雞尾酒。酒吧經理Robin Honhold對他們的布魯克林釀造進行了解釋。它是一款瓶中發酵雞尾酒，從經典的布魯克林雞尾酒改編而來。“它和康普茶有所不同，康普茶沒有將酒精轉化為醋酸的第二次發酵（也就是說沒有SCOBY）。相反，我們將果醬融化于茶中，生成一個可發酵的基底，讓它變成酒。然后我們對酒進行強化以終止發酵，將酒精度提高到醋酸菌落不再生效的水平，從而終止氧化作用。”Honhold說他使用了多種不同的花茶來營造不同的風味。“但下一步可能是去除控制因素，看看使用SCOBY和直接使用酵母或醋酸細菌能否產生不同結果。”

Some bars are experimenting with other fermented ingredients. White Lyan, in London, likely one of the world’s most forward-thinking bars, uses a similar technique to produce flavour components for its bottled cocktails. Venue manager Robin Honhold explains how the bar devises the ingredients for its Brewed in Brooklyn, a bottle-fermented reboot of the classic Brooklyn cocktail: “It’s not quite the kombucha method in that we don’t allow the second stage of fermentation of alcohol to acetic acid [in other words, no SCOBY]. Instead, we dissolve jam in tea to create a fermentable base then throw some yeast in and allow it to become wine. We then fortify this wine to stop the fermentation, bringing the abv above the point where a lactic-acid bacteria colony could take effect, stopping oxidation in the process.” Honhold says he’s used a number of different flower teas to create different flavours. “But probably the next step is to remove the control element and see if using a SCOBY instead of straight yeast or lactic acid bacteria produces different results.”

不過，使用康普茶不一定復雜。我發現用生姜或蘋果味康普茶代替姜汁啤酒能為莫斯科騾子帶來有趣而明顯的復雜度（配方見下方）。當然我還是要提醒一句：盡管味道可能很好，但酒液中剩余的酵母和細菌即使在過濾后也可能很不悅目。建議使用不透明的雞尾酒容器。

Still, using kombucha doesn’t have to be complicated. I found simply using a ginger- and apple-flavoured kombucha tea instead of ginger beer adds an interesting and easily realised layer of complexity to a Moscow Mule (see recipe, below). A word of advice, though: while they might taste delicious, the residual yeast and bacteria that remains in the liquid, even after straining, can be off-putting – use an opaque serving vessel.

康普茶騾子

由倫敦Hide Bar調酒師Paul Mathew創作

50ml 伏特加或金酒
10ml 青檸汁
150ml 生姜和蘋果康普茶*
1滴 安高天娜苦精

在銅質馬克杯中調勻，以青檸裝飾。

*如何制作康普茶：將三升水煮沸，熄火后加五到八枚茶包和一茶杯糖，待茶冷卻至室溫。將大玻璃罐以沸水消毒，倒入茶。加入菌液（網上很容易買到；三升水加300毫升）。將SCOBY（網上購買）放入玻璃罐，蓋上一層干凈的細布。將玻璃罐置于溫暖黑暗的環境中至少一周（發酵時間越長，茶的甜度越低、酸度越高）。把SCOBY拿出來，留著下次用。將大部分康普茶濾入干凈的瓶子里并密封，在玻璃罐中留好下次的用量。在這一階段添加風味。在室溫下靜置兩到五天，不能見光。每天檢查，釋放聚集的二氧化碳后再次密封。冷藏終止發酵和碳酸化，然后就可以用了。保質期為一個月。

**任何制作生姜和蘋果康普茶：在消過毒的容器中倒入一升康普茶，加一茶勺生姜粉和50毫升蘋果汁。分批裝入消過毒的瓶子里，在黑暗溫暖的環境中靜置兩到五天。過濾后上桌。冷藏可保存一個月。

Kombucha Mule

By Paul Mathew, Hide Bar, London

50ml Vodka or Gin
10ml Lime juice
150ml Ginger and apple kombucha tea*
1ds Angostura bitters

Build over ice in a copper mug; garnish with lime.

*To make kombucha tea: bring three litres of water to the boil; remove from heat, add five to eight tea bags and one cup of sugar; leave the tea to cool to room temperature. Sterilise a large glass jar with boiling water, then add tea. Add starter tea (easily purchased online; add 300ml for three litres). Place SCOBY (purchase online) into the jar and cover with fine, clean cloth. Leave jar in warm, dark environment for at least a week (longer fermentations equals more less sweet, more acidic tea). Remove SCOBY and save for new batch. Strain most of the kombucha into clean bottles and seal; leave enough in the jar for next batch. At this stage, add flavour. Leave to stand for two to five days at room temperature in a dark space; check each day to release build up of carbon dioxide, then reseal. Refrigerate to stop fermentation and carbonation; then serve. Keeps for one month.

**To make ginger and apple kombucha tea: add one teaspoon of grated ginger and 50ml apple juice to one litre of kombucha tea in a sterilised container. Batch in sterilised bottles; leave to stand in a dark, warm space for two to five days. Strain and serve. Keep refrigerated for one month.