If you enjoy tart kombucha, sweet lemonade, and bitter iced coffee, this incredible beverage is going to hit the sweet spot between all three! Perfect for savouring on a hot day, and sipping like a cocktail.

I first tried this drink at Dundurn Market in the spring, mostly because I didn’t know what it was - I bought a pint of organic strawberries for a late breakfast, then settled in at a friend’s house for a day of video games. It was one of those days where everything clicked: the berries were fresh and sweet, I was making excellent progress through the bosses of Bloodborne, and the mazagran? The mazagran!

I’ve been chasing a delicious and elusive coffee kombucha that I only brewed once properly, and this was easily the closest thing to it I’d ever had. It was tart, sweet, dark and light at the same time, and just. Transcendently good. I went back to Dundurn Market to tell the barista how good it was, and order another the next day, then another from Strathcona Market too.

It wasn’t until a few weeks later, when the seasonal kombucha flavour shifted to the citrus-y Spruce Tip Lemon Verbena, that it dawned on me just how easy a kombucha mazagran would be. So I tested the ratios, and here you are! But first, the history of the mazagran:

Often called the original iced coffee, it’s history dates back to Algeria during the French invasion of the late 1830s. An Algerian revolutionary and Sufi scholar, the Emir Abdelkader or Abd al-Qadir, was leading a resistance movement, and in 1840, his fighters trapped over 100 French soldiers at the fortress of Mazagran on the coast. The French withstood the revolutionaries for a few days, until reinforcements arrived and the Algerian force retreated. This minor military victory made perfect public relations fodder for France, where plenty of people were skeptical of Algeria’s colonization. Celebrations of the victory included print propaganda, fireworks, Mazagran-themed fashion trends, and military promotions, but ultimately the most lasting monument to the conflict was cold coffee.

The story goes that while trapped, the French soldiers were cut off from their regular supplies of milk and brandy to cut their coffee with, so they turned to cold water, and found that it wasn’t that terrible actually (duh). It was so refreshing in the heat that it became popular back in France to order “un mazagran,” which was black coffee served in a tall glass as opposed to a cup, either over ice, with a side of cold water, with lemon, or with a dash of seltzer.

The mazagran remained a pretty popular café drink in Paris until the 20th century, where it more or less fell out of fashion. The idea migrated and evolved, however, spreading to the rest of Europe. In Austria, it’s served with rum and drunk all at once like a shot; in Portugal, it’s served with sweetened lemon or lime juice; and ind Sweden, iced coffee served with lemonade is called a kaffeelemonad.

This recipe most resembles a Portugese mazagran, but with a few unique twists (and kombucha, of course). I hope you like it!

Recipe

Cold Brew - start 24 hours before you need it!

2 litres of water
3/4 cup of coffee grounds (I use Delicious All Day Coffee’s Medium Roast or Birch Bark Coffee’s Summer Solstice!)

In a large container, add coffee grounds to water and give a quick stir. Refrigerate for 24-36 hours, until coffee is sufficiently dark and strong. Strain out the grounds, then bottle for later! This is a great way to use glass you haven’t returned yet - for most of the summer, my fridge door is fully stocked with old kombucha and milk bottles full of iced tea and cold brew for grab-and-go ease.

Mazagran

Full glass of ice
1/3 Spruce Tip Lemon Verbena Kombucha
2/3 cold brew
Simple syrup to taste

I used a spring syrup Drew made with lemon peel, orange peel, forsythia and calendula, but our wood sorrel simple syrup would work too, and at Strathcona Market I ordered it once with half-lemon, half-lavender flavoured syrup. Anything citrus-y and floral should complement it well!

If you make a version of your own, post it to Instagram and tag us so we can get inspired! This is already one of my staple drinks at home, and I hope it catches on with you too!

Cheers!

- Robyn

Kombucha Mazagran (with Cold Brew!)

Recipe

Cold Brew - start 24 hours before you need it!

Mazagran