01 Apr Please The Palate Wine of the Week: (Well…Not Quite): Unified Ferments Non-Alcoholic Fermented Tea

Wine of the Week usually means, well…wine. April Fool’s Day felt like the perfect moment to change things up for Wine of the Week. No tricks here, just something a little different. Instead of wine, this week’s pick is a non-alcoholic fermented tea from Unified Ferments. Fermentation comes in many forms, and this week’s pick proves that complexity and balance don’t always require alcohol.  That is why Unified Ferments Snow Chrysanthemum and Jasmine Green are the Please The Palate non-Wine of the Week.

About Unified Ferments

Unified Ferments was founded by Young Stowe and Graham Pirtle, bringing together two ancient culinary traditions: tea production and fermentation. Friends since childhood, Young worked in the food and beverage industry and Graham was working in the tea industry. When Young began working on a wine bar, he reached out to Graham because of his background in fine tea, to develop an in-house fermentation program. They began experimenting with fermenting teas and that experimentation evolved into Unified Ferments.

While their beverages are made using a kombucha-style process – brewed tea and sugar fermented over time – the philosophy is different. At Unified Ferments, tea comes first. Fermentation is used as a tool to highlight and expand the character of the tea rather than dominate it.

The company produces nine different expressions, each built from teas sourced around the world. Different levels and ages of fermented tea are blended to create balance and complexity, then force-carbonated and pasteurized for stability. In many ways, the process echoes blending techniques used in winemaking.

Unified Ferments focuses on single-origin teas as the foundation for its fermented beverages. Two key elements shape the final profile: the tea itself and time.

Tasting Notes

At first glance, the fermented teas look like skin-contact natural wines. But each one smells and tastes like tea. There is Lapsang Souchong, a pinewood smoked broad-leaf black tea from Central China; Wen Shan Bao Zhong is a bright oolong from northern Taiwan; Rhododendron is wild harvested from the northern forests of Quebec; Nilgiri Green is an Indian green tea; Nilgiri Coonoor is a flinty team grown in southern India; Kukicha is a Japanese green tea; Hojicha is a fine Japanese tea; Soba is a toasted Buckwheat.

Unified Ferments drinks with the freshness of tea and the complexity that fermentation brings. Aromatic expressions like jasmine offer floral lift, while the fermentation adds brightness, acidity, and subtle savory notes. The gentle carbonation provides texture and energy, making the beverages both refreshing and structured.

As much as I enjoyed tasting them all, the two standouts were the Snow Chrysanthemum and the Jasmine Green.

Snow Chrysanthemum is a varietal of Chrysanthemum which spends nearly half of its life buried under snow in China’s Kunlun Mountain area. The tea, nutritionally dense and rich in amino acids, is fermented with honey. The result is a tea with beautiful floral notes and is dense yet fresh on the palate.

Jasmine Green is made from pearl-style green tea repeatedly layered with fresh jasmine flowers, pressed, and replaced multiple times to build aromatic intensity. The result is delicate, fragrant, and crisp with notes of jasmine flowers, peach, and eucalyptus.

Food Pairing

These fermented teas pair well with dishes that benefit from acidity and aromatic lift. Try the Jasmine Green with fish, Pho, and salads. Try the Snow Chrysanthemum with dim sum and tacos.

Where To Purchase

Each bottle of Unified Ferments retails for $27 – $32 and can be purchased at UnifiedFerments.com