It's that spooky time of year again - Halloween has arrived!

Rooted in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain, Halloween originally began as a way to scare off ghosts and spirits before morphing into the candy laden festival of witches and wizards we know today!

We’re down with dressing up and getting into the spirit (HA! Geddit?) of things but we know some parents find the amount of sugary treats on offer a little overwhelming. (Especially if you spend a bit of time trying to teach your sprogs about a balanced, healthy diet!).

As always, Remedy’s here to help with some healthy Halloween hacks! We’re not total buzz killers though, we know it’s fun to trick and/or treat so we’re all about making small tweaks and balanced choices…here’s our hot tips to making it through Halloween without the sugar crash ‘n’ burn!

Spend time talking with your kids about the origins and history of Halloween. Enjoy workshopping the costume possibilities and house decorations rather than the sweets and lollies on offer. One of the beauties of Halloween is the chance for children to wander around their neighbourhood after hours and get to know their community. Why not make this the focus rather than all the sugary loot?!

Have an early dinner before heading out. Filling up with something wholesome and healthy will help minimise the temptation of gorging on lollies.

Consider gifting popcorn, fruit kebabs, cheese-sticks or small packets of sultanas or raisins instead of sugary sweets. You could even go for mini-cans of Remedy Kombucha. They’re the perfect treat without the sweet and just the right size for little hands!

There’s no hard and fast rule regarding what you hand out to the kids in your neighbourhood and you can bet your bottom dollar some parents will be relieved to see some non-food treats in the trick or treat stash their little ones bring home. Try spooky Halloween themed stickers, bubbles, novelty erasers or even glow sticks to hand out on the night.

There you go – four healthy hacks that’ll have you saying ‘BOO’ to sugar this Halloween!

News just in from The Guardian!

Remedy Kombucha Raspberry Lemonade makes the grade in Fiona Beckett's review of four fruit drinks that aren't too sickly sweet.

"A not-too-scary introduction to kombucha with the flavour of a sour beer. Virtuously raw, vegan and unpasteurised."

We couldn't agree more.

Remedy Kombucha Raspberry Lemonade is a grown-up, guilt-free take on a childhood classic. No sugar. No nasties. Just lip-smacking gut-loving goodness in a bottle. 

That’s right Remedy fans, if you’re in the UK, Canada, Singapore, New Zealand or Australia you can now buy Remedy online. WAHOO! 

So, jump on in, peruse the Remedy range to your heart and gut’s content, choose ALL the flavours you’ve ever wanted to give a whirl!!

There’s a whole lotta jibber jabber out there about what kombucha is and isn’t. How on earth are you supposed to tell the difference when you don’t have a science degree and there’s so many mixed messages? The pressure!

Just like Frankie, Remedy says ‘relax’. Here’s our quick kombucha myth busting cheat sheet for the next time you’re left standing in the supermarket scratching your head.

Each and every batch of Remedy Kombucha is a descendent from the very first batch made on the kitchen counter of our founders Sarah and Emmet. The same culture has been brewing kombucha in Australia for more than 40 years. That’s a sign of a very healthy, very strong live culture indeed! 

Remedy’s wild, live culture of yeast and bacteria is the workhorse of our small batch kombucha brews. There are several stages to our natural fermentation process, conducted by many different organisms. Yeast of the Saccharomyces genus and bacteria from Acetobacter and Gluconobacter species are just some of the good guys responsible for our healthy, tasty booch. 

Remedy Drinks are ALWAYS raw and unpasteurised. This ensures the beneficial bacteria and live cultures remain healthy and intact. 

ALL of the ingredients in Remedy Kombucha are all natural and organic. Remedy Kombucha is Australian Certified Organic (ACO) certified. This tells you we have met rigorous independent checks undertaken by one of the most respected and trusted standards in the world for organic production. Our products are also 100% GMO free. 

No rushing around here at Remedy. We let our booch brew for 30 days in a warm, calm environment, in batches small enough to hug (and we do, all the time).  Check whether the label on your booch goes into detail and explains how it’s made. If not, we’d be asking why not?

Hold up! Wait a minute! Only kombuchas still containing sugar need to be stored in the fridge. This is because they can sometimes referment getting all boozy, loose-y goose-y and exploding everywhere.

No risk with Remedy as NONE of our drinks contain any sugar (so no chance of refermentation) and our cultures are ripped, super strong and fine out of the fridge. We make sure of it by testing throughout shelf life. We’re alive AND kicking!

Definitely NOT a kombucha. In short, it’s a flavoured water with added probiotics. Each to their own so if you like drinking probiotic water, knock yourself out. But it’s not a kombucha.  We prefer tasty, live cultured, naturally no sugar bevvies thank you very much!

Sure you need sugar to ferment. Can’t argue with that. And we don’t – we use raw organic sugar to kick off our brew but what makes Remedy different is that we ferment out ALL the sugar because we don’t really rate it as a food (hello empty calories) and we don’t think you should be drinking a whole lot of it. That’s why we have the I Quit Sugar tick of approval.

Remedy’s mission is to shake fizzy drinks up for good and that means giving you, THE PEOPLE, a naturally no sugar choice when it comes to choosing a tasty bevvie be that Remedy Kombucha, Remedy Switchel, Remedy Coconut Water Kefir or Remedy Good Energy. All Remedy Drinks are no sugar naturally and proud of it.

It’s super simple to test whether your kombucha is alive and kicking. Pour it into a glass and let it sit in a warm place for a few days. If you use Remedy Kombucha, we betcha bottom dollar a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast AKA ‘the mother’) will form. THAT’S how you know if it’s the real deal or not. You can even try brewing your very own kombucha using Remedy Kombucha as a starter. Here’s how.

If you have any other questions about kombucha, check out our FAQs or drop us a line!

We’re beside ourselves with excitement at Remedy HQ because Remedy Drinks are now available in the good ol’ U S of A. Can we get a YEEHA?! And not in any old retailer either….we’re in WALMART stores across the land of the free and home of the brave! Woohoo! Raise the roof and get in ma belly!

In the best ‘not only, but also’….you’ll soon be seeing Remedy pop up in cafés and restaurants across America giving our friends stateside the opportunity to ride the Remedy rainbow of deeee-licious, deeee-lightful, live cultured, naturally no-sugar drinks that’ve already gained an epic following in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK and Singapore. 

Launching with Remedy Kombucha Raspberry Lemonade, Ginger Lemon, Cherry Plum and Peach, you can find us in WALMART fridges in 8.5 ounce cans, 20 ounce bottles and 4 x 8.5 ounce can packs.

Based in the US, desperate for your daily dose of Remedy Kombucha and want more flavours in more places? Let us know where you want to see Remedy next! Or get your favourite café or health food store in on the Remedy action and tag them on Remedy’s Facebook or Instagram.

Love ya guts!

Team Remedy xxx

Now the year is coming to a close and we’re right in the midst of the festive season, let’s not lose touch of all the hard work we’ve put into 2018. So let’s finish it with a bang, celebrate and feast on all great things plant-based too. Want to know how? Read on friends!

That’s right UK friends. You heard it here first. It is now easier than ever to get your hands on Remedy Kombucha in the UK! If the UK doesn’t have enough Aussies in London already, we’re sharing our Melbourne-made gut-loving goodness all over thanks to Amazon! Now there’s no reason to have to give up your Remedy addiction if you’re travelling or living in the UK, and an easy-peasy way to get your UK mates onto the right stuff.

Not sure what flavour to share with your UK mates? Why not get a mixed case! And best of all….it is delivered straight to your door at no extra charge! (KAA-CHING!)

Head over to amazon.co.uk and ebay.co.uk to get your daily dose of no sugar (naturally) Remedy goodness now!

Contrary to those who might try to tell you it’s some hipster fad, kombucha has been around for yonks. Like, thousands of years-type yonks. However, with this history comes a fair bit of mystery… and a whole lotta myths.

Fear not, truth seekers! We here at Remedy have done the hard yards to gain the deepest possible understanding of the golden liquid goodness that is kombucha better than anyone. And we’re here to set the record straight. That’s right. We’re going to drop some truth bombs on ya.

We get a lot of questions. And we love answering them. One of the most common questions revolves around whether Remedy is ok if stored out of the fridge. The short answer is YES! But the same doesn't apply to all raw, unpasteurised kombucha. Wanna know why and how? Read on, friends...

Before we dive into the detail, it’s important to firstly flag that not all kombucha is created equal and so the following only applies to Remedy.

From the ingredients used, brewing method and how long it is brewed for, to the type of live culture used and how much sugar is left, the final product can be quite different in terms of not only the taste and goodness within, but also how it can be stored.

When it comes to Remedy, there are three key factors that contribute not only to us making what we like to think is the tastiest and healthiest raw, live cultured kombucha going 'round, but also why our kombucha is a-ok out of the fridge, and hence why you will see our 4-packs sold in the soft drink aisle at the supermarket.

At Remedy, our 30-day long aged small batch fermentation process results in kombucha that contains no sugar, naturally. We test every batch to make sure of it and we are the only kombucha brand to have a tick of approval from I Quit Sugar to back it up.

This is not the case for all kombucha. If a kombucha is raw, live and unpasteurised and still contains sugar or has sugar added (not Remedy!), then it could re-ferment if left out of the fridge (= exploding bottles and/or boozy booch).

When it comes to Remedy Kombucha, ALL of the sugar is brewed out during our small batch, long-aged fermentation process. Leaving none in the bottle. De nada. Zilch. Which means there’s no risk of re-fermentation.

The live culture we use to make Remedy Kombucha is extremely strong, and healthy.

Every single batch we brew uses a descendant of the first kombucha culture (aka SCOBY) that Sarah and Emmet started out with on their kitchen counter. Over time, thanks to the love and care we give our brewing process (we have been known to hug our small batch pots), this culture has grown incredibly strong, healthy and right at home in our kombucha.

It's a myth that all live cultures need to be kept refrigerated to stay alive. When it comes to Remedy, our live culture is totes cool with being out of the fridge. We've tested throughout shelf life to be sure. Here's why:

• During the Remedy long aged fermentation process, our SCOBY uses sugar as a food source for the live cultures to grow in number and produce metabolites such as organic acids.
• At the end of the 30 day process, the sugar is all gone, but the culture is still very much alive. While it doesn't have any sugar left to feed off, it conserves energy within its cells.
• Because these live cultures are the same ones that have conducted the fermentation, they are very happy in that environment and contributes to how and why they stay alive.
• And if you're worried about good bacteria turning bad, fear not. There is never any risk of the good bacteria in our Remedy Kombucha turning bad. Our live culture thrives in our low pH fermented tea environment and it inhibits the growth of bad bacteria.

We test every batch we make to ensure it’s the best booch going ‘round - on quality and taste. This includes checking the sugar content and live cultures, along with a number of other factors.

We’ve also completed methodical shelf life testing which shows that our live cultures survive in and out of the fridge, right throughout shelf life.

Got more questions? Check out our FAQs here.

When you sit to eat your meal are you comfortable or anxious about how it’s going to make you feel? Do you take it slowly and chew each mouthful or inhale it? Do you wonder why your digestive system doesn’t feel quite right? Do you know how to create a meal that can ease the pressure of digestion and work on healing your gut?

It may take no convincing to ask you to eat a few more berries, they’re sweet, delicious little bursts of nutrition but ginger on the other hand can be a touch trickier.

By contrast to the sweet delight that is the berry family, ginger is strong in flavour with a zing and kick. And, whilst we know berries are some of the richest known sources of antioxidants to protect our bodies from the effects of stress, illness and well, let’s face it life in general, our ginger nutrient factoids might be a little rusty.

Keen to know more about how Remedy went from its beginnings on a kitchen counter to pride of place in your fridge? Check out this profile piece in the Daily Mail for the full low down on Sarah and Emmet's story.

You asked. We listened. Our lil’ beauty Ginger Berry has joined the Remedy Kombucha family for good. Starring blueberry, strawberry and ginger, she’s a touch spicy, delightfully luscious and berry, berry tempting. She started out life as a one-weekend only limited-edition collaboration for our friends at Mecca Cosmetica. The response was E.P.I.C. Fair to say our Instagram notifications blew up…

If you haven't worked it out for yourself yet,  kombucha cocktails (and mocktails) are very much a thing.

Which is great. Because you know what everyone loves? Fancy pants drinks.

You know what we don't love, though? Sugar. 

It’s easy to find yourself caught up in the rush of life and lose sight of the simple things like sitting, being engaged and mindful with your eating. Let’s take a moment to refresh that practice…

How did Remedy go from Sarah and Emmet's kitchen counter to fridges in supermarkets all over Australia, with global expansion underway? Find out in this feature in The Age.

There’s no use denying it. We all love a good snoop.

And while we certainly aren’t innocent of falling down a rabbit-hole of on an old flame’s insta account or losing a couple of hours trawling for interior inspo on design blog home tours, here at Team Remedy our fave place to snoop is… a fridge.

Feel like a fancy drink but not keen on getting boozy? No worries. Allow us to introduce you to the Doozy Hughesy named in honour of Remedy lover Dave Hughes!

Read on for our instructions to recreate it yourself at home.

INGREDIENTS

• 100ml Remedy Kombucha – we recommend Original, but any flavour will work its own magic!
• 50ml orange juice (we recommend freshly squeezed!)
• Fresh thyme
• Blueberries (fresh or frozen!)

METHOD

• Take a champagne glass
• Fill with around 100ml Remedy Kombucha
• Top with orange juice
• Garnish with a sprig or two of thyme and a few blueberries
• Sip and smile!

Have you heard? Remedy Kombucha is now available in the UK!

Goes without saying, the team at Remedy LOVE kombucha. To help spread the love, we created a little kombucha school video series to give everyone else the lowdown on what's to love about it!

Just because you're avoiding booze doesn't mean you have to miss out on the fun when it comes to fancy drinks, right?

Whether you're feb-fasting for a short time, prefer to avoid alcohol altogether, or just feel like enjoying a booze-free bevvie, we reckon a kombucha mocktail is the perfect remedy (see what we did there?).

This lovely concoction - adapted from a recipe by The Core Health - ups the fancy factor big time by featuring flavoured ice cubes and a homemade compote. We guarantee you won't feel like you're missing out one bit.

YOU'LL NEED:

• 4-5 thyme sprigs (1 tablespoon leaves removed)

• 1 cup blueberries

• 750ml bottle Remedy Kombucha Original

• 1.5 cups organic frozen or fresh blueberries

• 2 tbs water

• 1 tsp lemon juice

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1 tsp maple syrup  (optional)

• 2 tbsp chia seeds
   

HOW TO MAKE IT:

1. Make ice cubes by place 2-3 lavender leaves and 2-3 blueberries in the holes of an empty ice cube tray, cover with filtered water and place in the freezer to set over night.
2. To make the blueberry compote combine 1.5 cups of frozen or fresh blueberries with all other ingredients into a small saucepan over a simmering heat.
3. Once the berries have been cooked through and stewed for around 5-6 minutes remove from the heat and mash with a fork, allow to cool slightly before stirring in the chia seeds, sit.
4. To assemble, add in the ice cubes, a few fresh blueberries plus a lashing of the compote, your spirit of choosing, then top with Remedy Kombucha.

 

Recipe and images by Samantha Flook, The Core Health.

Forte Magazine thinks Remedy Kombucha is delicious AND nutritious! YAY!

Check out the full article

While kombucha as a drink has been around for thousands of years, it is still a relatively mysterious and unknown drink to many people. They turn to the good ol' google machine to find out more and come away either confused or misinformed.

Luckily, you've come to the right place. Team Remedy is here to cut through the fake news and dispel the myths about kombucha!

We recently read a stat that blew our kombucha-loving minds.

It wasn’t so much that Australians are consuming too much sugar. We knew that. In fact, it’s part of why we are so damn proud to offer an alternative that’s not only tasty and naturally free from sugar, but also genuinely good for you.

One of the first questions Team Remedy is often asked by someone who's never tried kombucha before is: "what does it taste like?".

We get it. Trying anything new can be a little daunting. You want to know what you're in for.

Forget life-changing diets. Living a healthier and happier life can be achieved through baby steps: a little switch-a-roo here and a swap-a-roonie there. For example, with drinks it might be ditching a softie with your sushi and switching to a Remedy, or swapping some wine-time for a booch-break.

Same goes for food. One of the simplest changes you can make is one we've all heard before: eat more veggies. Easy said, but not always easily done, we get it. So we thought we'd share this handy guide from our Remedy Nutritionist, Jacqueline Alwill for upping your plant-based intake by swapping out meat for veggies. This post was originally published on Jacq's blog on her website The Brown Paper Bag. Pop over there for stacks of delicious recipes and advice on all things real healthy food and nutrition.

Over to you, Jacq!

Whether you’re a vegetarian or an avid meat eater, to be honest we can all do more eating of plants. However, it can be tricky if you’re not quite sure where to start right?

Here are a few ideas for making your old favourites (burgers, lasagne, stews, eggs and bacon) without sacrificing flavour and certainly no jibbing on the nutrition either – plants are abundant!

BURGERS

Because veggie burgers are insane and one of the yummiest way to get your fix without meat. Try:

• Whole grilled field mushrooms

• Chickpeas and sweet potato with herbs

• Sliced haloumi – grilled, golden and stretchy mmmm

• Lentils with herbs, brown rice and egg

• Mixed grains – barley, brown rice, oat, peanut butter and herbs

LASAGNE

Family favourite right? Try:

• Lentils for the mince in a 1:1 swap (cooked lentils to raw mince).

• Grated veggies such as carrot, beetroot, parsnip and pumpkin, sauteed with herbs where mince was.

• Sauteed mushroom and eggplant.

STEWS

Made for upping the veggie intake! Try using:

• Chickpeas

• Lentils

• Kidney bean – lentil, kidney and black bean all work a treat in vegetarian chilli with guacamole.

• Black bean.

• Butter bean.

CURRIES

Spice up the ante… Try:

• Combos of root vegetables such as pumpkin, sweet potato or carrot with nuts including almonds and cashews to create a sustaining curry with a good combo of fats.

• Tempeh or organic tofu – you can now find soy free tempeh in lots of health food stores – I’ve come across Byron Bay Tempeh (tried the chickpea one) and their range is fab.

• Bean combinations again – lentils, chickpeas, butter beans as above – but don’t forget the beautiful dhals you can make using moong dhal, yellow or red split peas too! There are a few dhal recipes on the Brown Paper Bag blog here.

BREAKFAST AND LUNCH ‘EXTRAS’

If that’s the right way to put it but let’s take a look at those. Try:

• Bacon – order a side of sauteed spinach, avocado, spiced beans, grilled tomato, mushrooms and other such delicious plants, but try to just keep to your 1-2 slices of bread, we don’t need to put so much bread into our diet if we are moving to vegetarianism cheese – for sandwiches, wraps, etc – if you are moving toward a more vegan dietary approach – up the ante with sprouts such as alfalfa, mung and chickpea, and a good smear of avocado. #avomakeseverythingbetter

• Creamy dressings – go for simple vinegar and oil based, or those made with coconut or natural yoghurt (if not vegan), avocado, nut butters and tahini make for delicious dressings too.

 

And a final word, if your intention is to move more toward vegetarianism but you still find yourself craving a steak, or lamb cutlets, don’t punish yourself and feel guilt, perhaps a flexible approach (flexitarian) is for you? Better to feel relaxed and content eating than anxious.

Images by Jacqueline Alwill for The Brown Paper Bag.

One of the perks of having the lovely Jacqueline Alwill from The Brown Paper Bag on board as our Remedy Nutritionist is an inside line to her AH-FREAKIN-MAZING whole food recipes.

We were obviously beyond excited when she was inspired by the launch of our new Cherry Plum kombucha to create a delicious, refined-sugar-free sweet treat that celebrates cherry in all its glory.

This recipe was originally posted on The Brown Paper Bag. Pop over there for stacks of delicious recipes and advice on all things real healthy food and nutrition. Over to you, Jacq...

"Remedy’s Cherry Plum Kombucha is deliciously sweet without being too much so, and on these hot summer days the perfect accompaniment for an icy treat – enter ROAST CHERRY RIPPLE SEMI FREDDO – enjoy!"

Ingredients

• 1 cup Greek yoghurt
• 1 cup ricotta
• 1/2 cup full cream milk
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 180g cherries, seeded and halved

Method

• Preheat oven to 180C and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
• Place cherries on tray, drizzle with 2 tablespoons honey and place in oven to cook for 30 minutes.
• Once cherries are cooked, remove from oven and allow to cool.
• Make the ice cream by placing greek yoghurt, ricotta, full cream milk, honey and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and whisk together well.
• Pour half the ice cream into a 1L container, swirl through half the cherries and repeat.
• Wrap with glad wrap and place in freezer to set over night.
• Remove and allow to thaw slightly before serving.
• To serve either flip out of tin and slice or scoop and serve with roast stone fruit.

Serves 6 - 8

Banner image by Jacqueline Alwill for The Brown Paper Bag.

Do you ever wonder, "How much kombucha should I drink?" and "How often should I drink kombucha to get the best results?" OR "HAAALLLP! I'm addicted! Can you drink too much!?"

Remedy Nutritionist, Jacqueline Alwill is here to give you the answers you need.

The term 'superfood' gets bandied about pretty liberally these days. We totally get it if your first inclination to any mention of superfood is the eye rolling emoji.

BUUUUUUT... we feel it is our duty to stand up for one little humble Aussie battler that is really truly madly deeply deserving of the term: the native Kakadu plum. It's no coincidence that this humble little fruit is one of the stars of our fancy-pants new flavour, Cherry Plum. Not only does it taste great, but it's also super good for you!

Now, let's first establish that Kakadu plum probably doesn't fit what you imagine a plum to look like. For starters, it's green. Some say the it looks and tastes more like an English gooseberry. It tastes a little more tart, and it smells a bit like stewed apples and pears, with some citrusy, musky notes thrown in too.

So, why the superfood status? To get the lowdown on the health benefits of Kakadu plum, we had a yarn with Hayley Blieden, founder of Australian Superfood Co, who we work with to source our Kakadu plums. Hayley is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Nutritionist (BNutDiet, M.B.A.)  and she is super passionate about native foods and their nutritional benefits. Based on her wisdom, we've narrowed the health benefits down to a top five...

1. It's chockablock full of Vitamin C:

Kakadu plum contains the highest recorded levels of Vitamin C of any fruit in the WORLD. Seriously. We're talking 100 times the Vitamin C content found in an orange!

2. It's rich in antioxidants:

Kakadu plums are 5.2 times more potent than blueberries when it comes to antioxidants.

3. It's medicinal:

The world is finally waking up to what indigenous Australians have known forever, which is that the kakadu plum has antifungal and antiviral properties.

4. It packs vego-friendly muscle:

Kakadu plum is an excellent source of iron and Vitamin E, good news for our vego friends who are sick of being asked "but how do you get your iron?"

5. It's full of folate:

Kakadu plum contains 110 micrograms of folate per 100 gram – the same amount found in broccoli.

Pretty amazing list there, huh? If you're still sceptical, perhaps it would help to know that this ain't no fad. Hayley explains that Indigenous Australians have been all over Kakadu plum for a long, looooong time.

"Considered a gift of the Dreamtime, the Kakadu Plum has been an important food and medicine in Northern Australia for millennia" says Hayley.

"From March to June, the local people harvest and consume this energising, thirst-quenching fruit. Throughout the rest of the year, the tree sap is consumed to treat joint inflammation, whilst the bark is applied to the body to treat burns, rashes and infections."

If you're keen to know more, pop over to Australian Superfoods website here. 

Let's be real. Many of us don't mind a tipple or two, especially at the end of a long week.

We figure if you're going to be enjoying some booze, you may as well go all out and make it a quality drink. Enter our Remedy Kombucha cocktail recipes: a little naughty and a whole lotta nice.

To kick things off, we've got an Italian classic with a twist: the Remedy Aperol Spritz. Keep on scrollin' for the full recipe.



 

INGREDIENTS

• 45 ml Aperol

• 80 ml Prosecco

• 80ml Remedy Kombucha Apple Crisp

• Slice of orange

METHOD

1. Pour Aperol into a wine glass and fill with ice
2. Top with prosecco and Remedy Kombucha Apple Crisp
3. Garnish with slice of orange and a straw

 
FINITO! Saluti!  Adoriamo il tuo budella!... that means "Cheers! We love ya guts!" in Italian... kinda ;)

Props to Leroy from Lulu White for the recipe!

We’ve all been there. That awkward feeling when everyone else is all over something and you have absolutely no idea what they are on about. The latest Netflix true crime doco. That festival in the middle of nowhere. The hippest place to get avocado on toast. It's too late to ask. Or you can't be bothered. But you really want to know.

Which is why we are here with the definitive guide to the question: what on earth IS kombucha?

Team Remedy is beyond excited. And it’s not just because the weather is warming up and we are hanging out for some beach, banana lounge and booch time. Although this is also true.

The reason we are jumping out of our booch loving skins our brand spankin' new extra-special, ridiculously-delicious, fancy-pants NEW flavour. Meet your new Remedy BFF: Cherry Plum.

Forget the cherry on top, we’ve packed the flavour of a whole punnet of them inside each bottle to craft a guilt-free treat you can enjoy all year round. Paired with native Aussie Kakadu plum, the result is fruity, floral and freakin’ refreshing.

Like all Remedy drinks, Cherry Plum is the real deal: all natural, certified organic,I Quit Sugar approved and chock full of gut-loving, live-cultured goodness. No naughty. All nice. Did you hear that, Santa?

Enjoy it straight up for maximum refreshment or maybe even add a splash of some extra festive cheer (wink, wink).

Cherry Plum is currently rolling out into our amazing band of independent supermarkets, grocers, health food stores, gyms, cafes and other independent stockists around Australia. Stay tuned NZ!

Find your nearest Remedy dealer here. If they don't have Cherry Plum on the shelf, let them know you're gagging to try it!

XO Team Remedy

Where does kombucha come from? What's its story? Well, we know it's been around for thousands of years, but here's the thing with those old pre-technology, pre-globalisation days. No one really knows. But there are a few theories that make sense.

Maybe you tried it, liked it, and now want to start converting others? Perhaps you’re still tossing up whether to take the leap to try something new and you want to make sure you’re not buying into some fad. Or maybe you just need some cold hard facts to be convinced.

We’re here to help. We’ve taken all the hype and simplified the science to tell you what’s up...

We're so lucky to have Remedy Nutritionist, Jacqueline Alwill on hand to offer guidance and advice on all things health and nutrition.  But we're all about sharing the love around here, so don't think we're going to keep all of her top tips to ourselves!

One of our favourites is this hit list for your shopping list to help you get through the next flu season unscathed.

7 Foods to Keep your Health in Good Nick

…and avoid winter lurgies

by Jacqueline Alwill

When the winter hits I have the pantry and fridge loaded with all my remedies to ward off any of those winter beasts (read : sickness) and even the hint of a sniffle. It’s a kitchen stock up, protocol if you will, I’ve used with lots of families and individuals whom I’ve treated in my nutrition practice too. We have an abundance of incredibly nutritious foods at our fingertips that we can use as our medicine, so there is no reason we shouldn’t right?

FERMENTED FOODS

Top the list, because they feed and fuel the bacteria in our gut so we can thrive. In nutrition we learnt first and foremost, (and as you may be understanding increasingly as it comes into the media spotlight – hurrah!) the gut is the seat of our health. If we attend to the integrity of our gut, health, energy and vitality flows.

Fermented foods come into play because they are the richest food sources of pre and probiotics (a team of gut feeders) and enzymes. We need these nutrients not only to feed the good bacteria in our gut, but so our bodies can then combat the bad bacteria we come into contact with increasingly over winter.

What many people do however is go through winter, unprepared until they get sick, then after 2 weeks feeling rotten, a trip to the doctor and a course of antibiotics, decide they’ll turn to their kitchen and food for support. If we flip this, we put ourselves in a much better position to avoid getting sick, doctors visits and the damage a course of antibiotics does to our liver and digestive system. So when next you hit the grocery stores or however you do your shop, be sure to top up on the key fermented foods and integrate them daily to be one step ahead of the game.

Fuel with these key fermented foods:

Kombucha:

Remedy is my preference. I’m a nutrition partner with Remedy Kombucha because the quality of their product is superior to other kombucha in the market. Not only is it the only kombucha brand in Australia to have close to 0g of sugar, (this comes as a result of their fermentation process) but Remedy are constantly testing, researching and increasing the quality and quantity of the live beneficial bacteria in their blend.

Sauerkraut and kimchi:

Purchase these from the fridge of your health food store / independent grocer and aim for an organic brand. Integrate these into your diet daily if possible through fritters, wraps or simply on the side of your steamed veg, salad or soup. I’ve been known to have a small portion of kraut just on its own pre dinner as a snack, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Miso:

Is a heavenly little cup of warmth over the winter months and as a fermented soy bean is another great source of probiotics and enzymes.

CITRUS FRUITS

An oldie but a goodie – the citrus fruits! A few reasons why you want them sitting on hand and how to consume them as well. Citrus fruits are a seasonal winter fruit. Important stuff this eating for the season business and even more so as increasingly fruits and vegetables become available year round as a result of imports. Mother nature however recognises the change in season and enriches her produce – lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit – with the vitamins we need including supercharged antioxidant, Vitamin C, in order to support our bodies and their fight against colds and flus! Eat them in winter!

And, to note, I say eat as much as possible when it comes to the sweeter variety here such as oranges. Whilst it’s tempting to juice a bunch of oranges and have a big glass, the benefit to our bodies and extraction of vitamins actually comes through eating the whole fruit, including all the juicy fibre. Fibre for gut health, vitamins from the whole fruit and also so that we avoid the big dump of (fructose) sugar that comes from simply juicing. Lemons are a bend on the eat the whole fruit rule. Few of us would want to anyway. So with lemons aim to use them every day throughout these cold months. Wake with the juice of a lemon and some warm filtered water to cleanse, kickstart and fire up the vitamin and antioxidant status in your morning, squeeze liberally over salads and steamed vegetables, fish, chicken, you name it. Have the bowl of citrus as a source of nutrition in your kitchen always.

BONE BROTH

Up there with fermented tea (kombucha) as an old remedy (pardon the Remedy booch pun) used for restoring the body to good health. As we now readily have many brands of beautiful organic bone broths available to us, you can purchase and keep in the fridge or freezer should the time not be available to slow cook your own. And that’s perfectly fine. We do not all have hours on a weekend to spend simmering away, when you can do so, but if it doesn’t allow aim for high quality that will deliver a broth rich in nutrition.
 

HERBAL TEA

Because it’s so easy to forget to drink plain water when it’s cold isn’t it? We’ve all been guilty of it. Water and the hydration of our cells is key for energy and immunity. We can live for days without food and survive but our cells cannot function and communicate effectively without H20. Stock up with some herbal (not caffeinated as the caffeine acts as a diuretic) teas in the cupboard.

Simple hydration in the herbal tea department can include:

• peppermint tea – lovely digestive

• liquorice tea – great for a sweet hit

• chamomile – calming and soothing

• ginger – digestive and immune boosting

• passionflower – or a chamomile passionflower blend, for more restful sleep

DARK AND LEAFY GREENS

For life! As a nutritionist I will never let up on telling people to eat their greens and be creative with how they eat them. Blend them into soup or smoothies (aim to drink smoothies at room temp in winter so as to not chill the body or digestive system), steam veggies at night instead of eating salads, pop them in your eggy fry up at brekky, whatever and however is a great way to get those greens in.

Stock the fridge with these top players:

• spinach

• kale

• broccoli

• chinese vegetables

• fresh herbs
   

MANUKA HONEY

An important one to mention particularly at present when I see more supermarkets with Manuka sitting on their shelf. There is admittedly some clever marketing going on around the Manuka ingredient and therefore it’s easy enough to think you’re buying something with nutrition / medicinal benefit when the reality is you may not. Look out for the Manuka MGO (methylglyoxyl) potency stamp. MGO is the main antibacterial ingredient in the Manuka. This stamp is the MGO number with a + sign on the packaging of good quality Manuka you may pick up. The numbers vary greatly. That which you can eat is generally between 100-400 MGO, higher than that have a strong medicinal effect 400 and above.

GINGER

Finally, our humble little root in the fruit and vegetable drawer, ginger. A circulatory stimulant (goodbye cold hands and feet during winter), digestive aid and powerful immune booster. There are so many ways you can use this root in your cooking as a medicinal food. To top the list, warm and soothe the body, think curries, soups, carrot and ginger juices, or a simple ginger, lemon and honey tea.

Because proactive is of greater benefit than being reactive when it comes to health, I encourage you to fill the pantry and fridge with these ingredients and keep close to you always…

'Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food' (Socrates)

This post was originally published on The Brown Paper Bag

Banner image credit: Jacqueline Alwill for The Brown Paper Bag.

Have you heard? Remedy Kombucha has landed in New Zealand! For reals.

We are so stoked to give some of our Kiwi mates the chance to enjoy our live cultured I Quit Sugar-approved booch. So much so that we had a lil kombucha-cocktails party with local NZ health and wellness guru, Julia Matthews from Julia & Libby as our co-host.

“We want as many people as possible to have the choice to enjoy a real, healthy drink alternative to sugar-filled soft drinks and juices, without compromising on taste or process,” says Emmet.

“We hear from people every day who tell us how much better they feel after converting to kombucha. Once people get a taste for it, they are usually hooked,” he says.

Remedy Kombucha is made the old-school way, in small batches using a long-aged brewing process, using only whole, organic ingredients.

We have perfected their recipe to ensure it naturally contains no sugar, which is why we are the only kombucha to be given an official tick of recommendation from Sarah Wilson's I Quit Sugar Recommends program.

Emmet says the trend towards consumers demanding healthier food and drink options is strong in New Zealand.

“People are increasingly aware of the dangers of too much sugar in our diets and looking for options that are not naturally low or free from sugar, but also natural and organic and still tasty,” he says.

Stay tuned and subscribe to our mailing list to be the first to know when we expand to more New Zealand locations.

Pop over to our Store Finder and pop in your location to find your closest stockist!

We are so proud to have the one and only Jacqueline Alwill on the Remedy Kombucha team as our official nutritionist to provide qualified and trusted advice on issues relating to the health and wellness benefits of kombucha.

Jacqueline is a not only a nutritionist of course. She's also an amazing whole foods cook, loving mum and all round ace human.

We reckon she’s the perfect fit for our team because she is passionately committed to improving the health, wellbeing and happiness of all individuals. She’s all about sharing good health with everyone around her in a way that is positive and inclusive, or as she puts it:

“I love giving people an experience in food, health and wellness that makes them feel excited, empowered and happy to start and continue a journey to optimal health”.

Jacq is also the founder and director of The Brown Paper Bag, who offer a wide range of food and health related services and experiences. Her philosophy in health lays the foundations for the experience clients and the community have in her practice, workshops and the food they cook and taste. As it seems with so many inspirational entrepreneurs-with-heart, the seed for Brown Paper Bag was sown at a young age. After establishing an early love affair with food, she found her family couldn’t keep up with her cooking ventures, so she would bundle little treats up in a brown paper bag and share them with her friends and neighbours. This concept is what brought The Brown Paper Bag to life and to its strength today: making delicious, wholesome food, enriched with wonderful nutrition and sharing the experience with those around you.

“When you have a taste of just how good healthy is, really, there’s no reason to look back. A good diet and healthy food, doesn’t have to ever be boring or complex, it’s a space to find your creativity, learn and share a truly incredible experience in food and health.”

Jacqueline has worked on numerous campaigns in nutrition and health for The Cook’s Grocer, Tetley Tea, Brita, Breville Australia, Australia Beef (MLA), Jurlique, FIVE:AM Organics, Bioglan Superfoods and more.

She is also a highly regarded media contributor, offering her knowledge and insight to to RUSSH magazine, Sporteluxe, Men’s Health, Cleo, Dolly, Good Health, Prevention, GMHBA, FMTV and more.  She also joins the panel on Channel Seven’s The Daily Edition, The Morning Show, The Project and Sky Business News frequently to spread the message of nutrition and health.

We look forward to sharing lots more from Jacq with you very soon, including insight into the health benefits of kombucha and other fermented foods, other nutrition advice and tips and - most imporantly - some of her delicious recipes!

Are you a full-blown stage five kombucha addict ready to take things to the next level? Or just have the fermenting bug (pun intended)? Either way, we're here to show you just how easy it is to make your own kombucha at home. It’s how Remedy started, after all! That’s right, our founders Sarah and Emmet started out making kombucha for themselves and their young family on their very own kitchen counter.