Beyond kombucha: botanical fermented beverages and alcoholic botanical fermented beverages

Wild as a lightning bolt, brief because from the very beginning of the Wilden.herbals project we did not want to put any limits on the imagination and the world of medicinal plants, herbs and spices.

Here are the roots of Frècc, a line of botanical fermented beverages, in collaboration with Latta, ferments and blends, which includes 3 products: Frècc Boost, Frècc Digestive and Frècc Hangover. The history of Frècc has opened wide horizons for us on the possibilities of herbal fermented beverages and pushed us into bold territories such as alcoholic botanical fermented beverages.

In this article, we want to share with you the journey that gave birth to Frècc: what kombucha is, the differences between botanical fermented beverages and alcoholic botanical fermented beverages, and discovering the behind-the-scenes of the collaboration with Latta for Frècc.

A drink called kombucha: what it is, benefits and origins

Kombucha is a fermented tea and sugar beverage made with a SCOBY (English acronym for symbiotic colony of battery and yeast), the “mother of kombucha” or “tea fungus” in the form of gelatinous discs. The SCOBY transforms the sugar mixture into kombucha through a fermentation process that makes the drink fizzy.

Kombucha is a real boon for the gut and digestion: it is rich in vitamins, probiotics but also antioxidants that fight free radicals. Its antibacterial and antifungal properties are a blessing against infections.

That it was a panacea for all ills was already known around 220 B.C.: the earliest traces of kombucha date back to northeastern China. Legend has it that it owes its name to Dr. Kombu, a Korean physician who introduced and appreciated the drink to the Japanese Emperor Inyoko, who anointed it as an elixir of long life.

What are fermented botanical beverages: Frècc Boost and Frècc Digestive

The junction between kombucha and the herbal world are fermented botanical beverages. The beneficial bacterial cultures typical of kombucha are used here to ferment an infusion of organic medicinal plants typical of our herbal teas and recipes, along with sugar and water.

We used this process for the Frècc Boost and the Frècc Digestive. Highly drinkable and with a lingering aroma, these botanically fermented beverages keep all the many healing and nutritional properties of kombucha intact. Frècc Boost with ginger, pepper, orange, and lemongrass is all the boost you need in a can format; Frècc Digestive with licorice, fennel, ginger, and sage, rosemary, and mint is a truly refreshing sip after sip.

What are botanical alcoholic fermentations: Frècc Hangover

Experimentation on herbal fermented beverages knows new frontiers with new botanical alcoholic fermented different wine, beer or cider.

The key to brewing is the meeting of yeasts and infusions of the medicinal plants: we start with an acid fermentation starter (called a sour mash in the jargon) made from barley malt and wheat malt, to which we add the infusion (our Remedium No. 4 – Hangover) and organic sugar.

Acid fermentation transforms sugars into alcohol and gives birth to a thoroughly experimental drink, the Frècc Hangover. With pungent, herbaceous notes of ginger and gentian, its taste may remind one of a bottle-refermented wine-we recommend sipping it chilled or as a base in mixology.

Wilden.herbals and Tin for Frècc: behind-the-scenes look at the collaboration

From the very beginning, we built Wilden.herbals with a clear intention: to create a natural and entirely new imagery through herbal drinks. Our project has, yes, a strong connection with the slow rhythms of nature and botany, but it manages, by renewing itself, to intercept new rituals and habits.

Fermented beverages were undoubtedly a territory we wanted to explore, especially after a trip to Estonia in 2019 where one of our founders, Nicola Robecchi, was able to confront a great local tradition of fermenting medicinal plants to create beverages. In the months that followed, the question arose somewhat naturally: what if we tried combining fermentation with herbal infusion?

With these questions in mind, during the spring of 2020, when Covid was keeping us at home, we were lucky enough to run into Leonardo di Vincenzo. Leonardo is a great creative in the world of fermented beverages as well as the mastermind, together with the guys at Jerry Thomas, of Latta, ferments and blends, a Roman venue with restaurant, cocktail bar but also fermentation laboratory, ideally a landing and starting point for contaminations with mixology and other new projects.

Leonardo di Vincenzo recounts, “A mutual friendship introduced me to Nicola and his partners, guys who live in hectic Milan but decided to focus on slowness, herbs and nature. Hence the desire to approach the world of herbal teas precisely with the start of experiments on atypical fermentations in Tin.”

At the end of July 2020 we begin the first trials with 3 recipes starting with 3 Remedia: Boost, Digestive and Hangover. The first tastings amaze and fascinate us so much that we decide, together with Leonardo, to make these trials available on tap from Tin. They like the drinks and, as the months go by, they prove to be stable, with good acidity and lingering aroma, ready for a future “bottling” in 33 cl cans-a sustainable format with an urban flavor, but above all in a limited edition, sealing the experimental nature of this new adventure.

Thus Frècc was born, an innovative drink with an absolutely new taste and high quality. Now all that remains is to discover it.