Cornering the beet Kvass market Locally in Sonoma County
Adam Johnston, Biotic Beverages Beet Kvass, lfermented in Sonoma County, the bottle says.
Nadine's Favorite Ingredients, the name I have for Nadine my sweetie heart, got all excited about a product she found at the National Heirloom Expo.
The product is called Biotic Beverages Beet Kvass, and the creator of this product is Adam Johnson, a young man in his 20's who in his world travels that included China, discovered some remarkable recipes for fermenting foods.
HERE IS ADAM JOHNSON'S WEBSITE
http://www.bioticbeverages.com/
Visiting Whole Food Market and Seeing it there in the Store in My Mind's Eye
I had Adam Johnson's Biotic Beverages Beet Kvass on my mind when we stopped in the Whole Foods Market Santa Rosa on our way out to the Frey Vineyard the early evening of Seotember 12, 2014.
Whole Foods Market features various local products in individual stores that you will not find in other stores.
They were serving a new Kombucha product that was being marketed as a soda pop. I immediately imagined Adam's new product in that store.
Messages from Adam
Adam is very new at selling his Beet Kvass product and other fermented products. He is still in the test marketing stage. His display and delivery at the National Heirloom Expo impressed me.
He was offering samples from a unit that dispensed the Beet Kvass from a tap, as you would dispense beer. I was impressed with his skill at engineering the display that appeared simple yet was a class act.
I was sold on his product early on in the expo, and enjoyed bringing by some of my allies that included Bob Quinn, the man behind Kamut ® khorasan wheat. They had a good connection, and Bob and Adam were excited to see if some kind of Kvass like product might be made out of the Kamut ® wheat seeds.
He also has a sweet potato Kvass that Nadine and I loved. Tonight he told me he is going to have a pumpkin recipe for the Fall! Oh my God! There were what seemed like hundreds of varieties of pumpkins at the National Heirloom Expo. I wish we could hook Adam up with some of those Pumpkins.
ADAM SHARES A RECIPE FOR MAKING BEET KVASS
Coming Soon!!!
5:40 pm
Friday sept 12, 2014
URL for Photo above is
http://curezone.com/ig/i.asp?i=72975
Wild Fermented Beet Kvass
By Adam Johnston
Equipment:
• 2 gallon glass jar with sealing lid and airlock
• Strainer
• Knife
• Measuring spoons
• Stirring spoon
• Scale with 2 lb capacity
• Scrub brush
• Bottles
Ingredients:
• 1.5 lbs local organic beets (preferably homegrown)
• 1 gallon purified water (non-chlorinated)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
Recipe:
• Trim the tap root and root hairs along with the leaves from the beet
• Scrub remaining dirt from beet, leaving skin intact
• Slice beets into rounds about ¼” thick
• Clean 2 gallon glass jar
• Place sliced beets in jar
• Add ¼ teaspoon salt
• Add 1 gallon filtered water
• Stir with clean stirring spoon
• Seal lid and insert airlock filled with water
• Place out of direct light, in a 70˚F room and let ferment 4-6 days depending on taste.
• Strain off beets, and bottle beet kvass.
• Seal bottles and let ferment in bottles in a 70˚ F room for 3 additional days.
• Refrigerate and enjoy!
Discussion:
This lacto-fermented beverage can be refreshing and delicious despite the numerous blogs around the internet which argue differently. The quality of beets is what makes this drink delicious! When beets are too large the centers turn white and taste more like jicama than beets. When beets are harvested too early, the sugar content isn’t high enough to create a sparkling, slightly sour beverage. Just like grapes, for wine making, harvesting beets at the correct time is what makes the product stand out! The fermentation cuts the sugar content of the beets but the flavor persists. Every beet has slight variation in flavor so taste your beets before fermentation! Lactobacillus the fermenting bacteria is naturally occurring on the outside of all fruits and vegetables that have been grown in outdoor soil conditions. The slight addition of salt creates a saline solution in which helps promote the growth of salt tolerate lactobacillus instead of the growth of natural occurring yeast to keep the alcohol content low and the probiotic content high. The amount of salt will of course affect the flavor of the beverage, and fermentation time. The more salt the less chance of alcohol fermentation and the longer the fermentation time. As with any wild fermented beverage, the flavor will change from batch to batch. Although the ingredient list is short there are still plenty of variables to change flavor from batch to batch. Juicing or grading the beet will speed up the fermentation time due to the increased surface area and available sugar content, however you increase the chance of alcohol fermentation. From my experience, the flavor is usually worse when beets are juiced or shredded. The fermenting agent is mostly lactobacillus which is a Genus that includes 202 different named varieties and many still unnamed. It’s more or less random which ones you will end up with in your ferment. Each variety creates a different flavor profile, carbonation level, acidity, mouth-feel, and probiotic benefit. In addition other variables include beet sugar and flavor, beet slices size, water quality, water pH, fermentation temperature and time, some of these variables can be controlled, while others are not. This is what makes fermentation a skilled art form, the most important part of fermentation is to bless your ferments with the love and have fun!
Variations:
As mentioned above, any fruit or vegetable can be turned into lactobacillus ferment with the addition of salt and water. So play and have fun! However, popular mixtures with beets include; ginger, carrot, or apple.
MORE FROM ADAM'S WEBSITE
About us…
http://www.bioticbeverages.com/about-us.html
By Adam Johnston