Nicolas from Leave Your Sword

Q: Tell us about Leave Your Sword and your kombucha

A: Leave Your Sword is and independent kombucha micro-brewery, pastry, fermentery and taproom. I decided to brew kombucha on tea only since the main ingredient is tea. The next requirement is to remain unfiltered, unpasteurised, and bottle aged. The third idea is to use organic local beetroot sugar and be as sustainable as possible by collecting as many as I can of the empty bottles as well as delivering in crates instead of carton boxes and single serving bottles or even cans.

Our drink is meant to be shared, it's inspired by the tea tradition and feature both flavoured classic teas as well as single estates from amazing gardens and producers, but also beer and wine making is influencing my process.

Kombucha is a fermented product so there is some alcohol even if it stays on the low side, 2.5% ABV to 3% max on over a year ageing. That's the most confusing part to some of our customers, but that's also one of the truths behind natural fermentation and our particular style. It took me 3 years to finally get the permit and the machinery to be an independent brewery and to be able to track those ABV.

I really believe in the culture I'm working with and I try to understand more of its behaviour to get closer to the tea in order to reveal as much as we can from it. We don't need sodas, we just need truth within our system. I try as much as I can to adapt myself to my product, to let it express itself as much as it can and let you taste the terroir. Then - whether you like it or not matters less for as long as you understand why.

Q: What about You personally, why are you working with this? What's your story?

A: I studied biology, then went studying cooking at Ferrandi in Paris, got the chance to work mostly in star restaurants, opened my own catering and chef a domicile company in France… sustainability, food systems, nature, art, science fiction & fantasy books, sailing and surfing are maybe so far my favourite activities.

I started my brewing path as I worked as a chef and consultant at De Ceuvel. To be honest I was a little fed up with the drink landscape available at that time - I wanted to have something more playful and different, that could have a lower ABV but still as much depth like a good wine, beer, or spirit. As well as wanting to work with tea and thinking again in terms of local supply and sustainability. At the end it seems that through the kombucha and Leave Your Sword I'm finally able to express myself by building menus, events, and recipes - all around the the drink… things are somehow coming together. It's maybe confusing because I'm not only focusing on the drink, but more looking after a way to combine what I like most and try to serve it. The expression of my surrounding from the seasonality to various inspiration and what I would love to have from breakfast to a night out is condensed and brewed at the taproom I guess. That's my way of expressing feelings.

Q: What is your favourite kombucha or cocktail right now, and Why should we all get one?

A: I love all of them, I don't have any favorite, they are all different and can all be part of any momentum. It all depends on what you are looking for. Furthermore my favorite is actually the one I'm not brewing yet, but I wish to encounter and get to brew and age a wild single estate from over a year old tea tree as well as local European tea plantations.

I love to drink kombucha just as it is in a nice glass, combined in cocktails, or with a dish. On a day like today - which is a cold and rainy day - when I'm listening to Sleep Dealer and have to pack my orders for Rotterdam, I'm enjoying the depth of Darjeeling Black First Flush FTGFOP1 with tea from Soom Garden that is aged for 2 years. It's dry, it took some time to open up and catch up with the original flavours… the tannins are giving depth and structure to further slide on the light hay and seaweed aromas. In my opinion, it’s perfect for a day like today, but you might need something different.

Q: From your shop right now, name some kombucha that you consider to be the perfect MOOD BOOSTERS (i.e. pick me ups after a long, dark and cold winter; fun, light and friendly).

A: Earl Grey could probably be a good one, mostly because everyone says you can’t brew kombucha with earl grey, well fuck that, anyway it seems apparently that we just do what we love and that just goes against the stream so get your boost on that I guess.