A NEW LEAF
‘Brew lab’ specializes in jun, a fermented enzymatic tea
Leaf & Hive Brew Lab is not your typical brewery.
The Brew Lab, owned by brothers Andrew and Fredrick Lucas, specializes in jun, a fermented tea made with honey, which is made in-house. The enzymatic drink, which contains alcohol, is believed to have healing properties.
“(Jun culture) has the most health benefits of a probiotic,” co-owner Fredrick Lucas said. “This would be the one that you take that has shown to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, combat cancer, is an antiinflammatory and an anti-depressant on a more subtle level. It increases iron absorption and increases calcium retention and protects against heavy metal absorption. The anti-depressant is pretty big. It increases dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain.”
Leaf & Hive will offer Original, which contains its signature oolong tea blend, local honey, and jun culture; Flower, which has a floral, hibiscus flavor and combines a medley of herbs, local honey, and jun culture; and Ginger, which combines fresh ginger, local honey, and jun culture, according to the company website. There are also plans to add seasonal flavors as well as small batch beers and guest taps of other New Mexico craft beers to the 12 tap tower at Leaf & Hive.
“(The name Leaf & Hive is) a combination of leaf tea and a hive, as in a beehive,” Andrew Lucas said. “We currently do source our honey locally. We have an apiary outside of Albuquerque that we use. It’s all area, locally sourced honeys. We source the tea leaves elsewhere. Down the road, we plan on using the local flora to create different flavors for the beverage.”
Fredrick Lucas learned to brew jun about 12 years ago while living in California.
“A lady on the land, she used to brew jun on her property in a homemade adobe structure on a grid of sustainable farm,” he said. “It was like a magic little oasis in the middle of the redwoods in Mendocino County. I would hang out with her and mix jun and make the teas and learned. It wasn’t an apprenticeship I was just living there and she was my friend but looking back it kind of was. She gave me a jun culture and when I moved.”
In New Mexico, Fredrick Lucas began brewing with a good friend who also had experience brewing jun.
“We brewed together and developed different recipes,” he said. “We wanted to build recipes around it. We felt it would benefit anyone who drank it. We were kind of brewing guerrilla-style. I told Andrew, and he was super-excited about it and … I ran with it from a guerrilla brewing operation to (Leaf & Hive Brew Lab).”