The Best Hot Drink
Just something brief today, but let me tell you about a beverage you probably haven’t had before.
Kobucha, which is distinctly not kombucha, is a tea made from kelp. Now before you stop reading immediately out of sheer disgust, hold on just a second, and think about the following:
Imagine you’ve had a shitty day at work, and, oh joy, it’s raining as you make your commute home. Despite your best efforts, you get soaked to the skin before you reach the front door. The rain is really bucketing down, and as you get inside, what you want most in the world is a blanket, and a cup of something savoury and comforting, but requiring basically no prep. Kobucha fills just that niche. It tastes like an excellent-quality, very natural instant soup, thin, yes, but rich and complex -- because that’s what it is.
It’s a powdered beverage, always containing kelp, and sometimes containing plums and perilla. Both of those again may raise some eyebrows or hackles, but there’s really no reason to. The plums tend add a subtle refreshing sourness, like someone added a hint of lemon juice to your “tea”, and the perilla adds an implacable, but distinct herbaciousness. Is it mint? Basil? Fennel? It’s sweet, spicy (but not hot) and pungent. Go for a brand that doesn’t have too much sugar, because while there should be some mild sweetness, this isn’t a candy-drink like a chai ““““latte”““““ (I have very little nice to say about the notion of a chai latte).
It’s closely tied with Mexican hot chocolate as my favourite non-tea hot beverage.
Seriously, get some.
