This past winter we spent a quiet Thursday afternoon enjoying the tasting room at Urban Farm Fermentory. While you can find selections from Urban Farm Fermentory throughout bars and restaurants in the Portland area, I had never tried  kombucha or any of their other offerings.

The tasting room at Urban Farm Fermentory is spacious and inviting. One of the benefits of going early on a weekday afternoon meant it was also uncrowded. Even though the place was mostly empty when we arrived, with plenty of open tables, we opted to sit up at the bar which has a creative, fun vibe.

We started with a tasting flight. For my flight, I picked:

Strawberry Mead. This one was nice and light. It was mild and not overly sweet which I enjoyed.

Berlinger Fruit Gruit and Sidrah. Gruit is a beer made without hops. The gruit and sidrah were similar in flavor with a mellow cider taste. The gruit did not taste like traditional beer.

Stinger. This one had an extremely strong kick in the back of my  throat. It came on late and lingered. I liked this one a lot.

Blueberry Kombucha. Another nice, mild choice with a pleasant blueberry flavor.

For those unfamiliar with kombucha, here is a definition from the Merrian-Webster website: [Kombucha Medical Definition. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/kombucha. Accessed September 19, 2017.]

Medical Definition of kombucha :a gelatinous mass of symbiotic bacteria (as Acetobacter xylinum) and yeasts (as of the genera Brettanomyces and Saccharomyces) grown to produce a fermented beverage held to confer health benefits; also :the beverage prepared by fermenting kombucha with black tea and sugar

We had a Groupon for this trip and in additional to our tasting flights it included a large pour. The bartenders were super friendly and pleasant. They suggested a mix of a few choices for our large pour which intrigued me so I decided to try a combination. I chose a 1/3 of the Stinger and 2/3 of the Blueberry Kombucha for my pour. The combination was perfect and I loved the resulting flavor. It was my favorite.

As it got a little later in the day, the place began to get busier but it was time for us to head home. We had a fun, relaxed afternoon enjoying some interesting new beverages. it was the perfect way to spend a chilly winter day. We even took home a few growlers to remember the outing.