Raspberry kombucha mocktail smoked with Vanilla & Black Tea

When I started my first kombucha, I wasn't looking for a soft drink. No sugar, no bubbles just for show. I wanted aromatic complexity: a drink you sip slowly, where something happens with every mouthful.

Raspberry wasn't an obvious choice. We had some, so I tried it. On paper, it wasn't for me: it tastes good, but it doesn't have the strength or the astringency I like. In kombucha, though, it's a real revealer. It brings aromatic power and a clean acidity. That's what I play on.

And for the first time, I managed to get smoke into it. It's a little gem.

The base: my green tea, black tea and muscovado kombucha

I'm not going to explain the first fermentation here. But you need to know what's in the glass, because everything starts there.

My kombucha is made with a blend of green and black tea. The green tea brings freshness, the black tea brings structure and a touch of bitterness. I brew it at 90 °C. For the sugar, I use muscovado, about 45 g per litre. It's an unrefined sugar with molasses notes, and it already gives the base some depth.

It ferments continuously in my 4 L Kefirko jar. I draw off, I top up, and the mother keeps working.

What I'm after is a kombucha that isn't sweet. The result is that it won't be fizzy: the bubbles come from the sugar that's left, and I want that sugar used up. A good part goes during the first ferment, the rest during the second.

For this batch, I moved to the second ferment when the first one reached a pH of 3.4. It's a guide, not a rule.

The second ferment: raspberry

This is where the recipe happens.

I pour 1 L of kombucha into a 1.4 L jar, unfiltered. I add 100 g of raspberries and crush them straight in the jar. No blender, no separate purée.

Then two days at room temperature.

After that, I strain it through cheesecloth to remove the pulp and seeds, bottle it, and it goes straight in the fridge.

The result: a deep red colour, a clear raspberry taste, good acidity and very little sugar. It's already good on its own. But the last layer was still missing.

The smoke: the Vanilla & Black Tea Élixir bead

An Élixir bead is a small aromatic bead made by Smok King for smoking cocktails and mocktails. You let it burn, and it releases a fragrant smoke that settles on the drink. It's not a visual effect, it's an ingredient.

I chose Vanilla & Black Tea, and not by chance. The black tea answers the tea in the kombucha. The vanilla rounds off the raspberry's acidity. The aroma is just incredible.

For the smoking, I use the Smokkeur, Smok King's wooden disc. It sits on the glass, I put the bead in and light it. With Vanilla & Black Tea and this shape of glass, I let the bead burn all the way through. So there's no timing to watch: you serve it straight away, with the Smokkeur still on the glass.

These beads are exclusive to the October box of the SK Club, Smok King's subscription club. In the box, you'll also find the new cardboard smoking holders: five designs, reusable a few times. When they start to wear out, you throw them away. I used the wooden disc, but the principle is the same.

Join the SK Club

The detail that changes everything: the spoon

At first, I wanted to put pink peppercorns straight into the glass. Bad idea: they float, then they sink. Not great.

The answer is a small spoon set next to the glass. In the spoon, a dab of heather honey, covered with crushed pink peppercorns. The pepper sticks to the honey, stays in place, and you take it when you want.

And the spoon does something else: some of the smoke settles on the surface. One stir and it blends into the kombucha, with the honey and pepper going in at the same time.

On the side, a few black olives. The saltiness with the raspberry's acidity and the smoke works really well.

The recipe

Raspberry kombucha (second ferment)

• 1 L of green tea / black tea / muscovado kombucha, end of first ferment (pH around 3.4), unfiltered
• 100 g of raspberries
• Crush the raspberries in the 1.4 L jar with the kombucha
• 2 days at room temperature
• Strain through cheesecloth, bottle, keep in the fridge

The mocktail

• A short glass of well-chilled raspberry kombucha
• 1 Smok King Vanilla & Black Tea Élixir bead, in the Smokkeur or a cardboard holder, burned all the way through
• 1 small spoon with a dab of heather honey and crushed pink peppercorns
• A few black olives on the side

Smoke the glass, serve with the spoon, and stir the surface smoke in as you drink.

It's the first time I've managed to get smoke into a kombucha. It won't be the last.