Santa Feans are privy to an abundance of locally made beer, wine, cider and other alcoholic beverages.
But in a little spot near Richards Avenue and Rufina Street, you can find a taste of something truly different.
The place is Leaf & Hive, and the drink is honeybrew. It’s a fermented tea: a probiotic, alcoholic, enzymatic drink, explained Fred Lucas, who owns Leaf & Hive with brother Andrew Lucas and Chris Gonzales.
Unlike its cousin, kombucha, which is made with sugar, honeybrew — or jun, as it is more widely known — is made with honey. The naturally gluten-free drink’s base is simple: tea, honey and culture. Leaf & Hive’s raw, unfiltered honey — it uses two types — comes in 55-gallon drums from an apiary in Belen. The alcohol comes from a double fermentation process.
Gonzales likened it to a sparkling mead: the marriage of honey’s delicate sweetness and a light fizziness.
“There’s really nothing quite like it,” said Andrew Lucas. Added Fred Lucas, “It’s almost a new category.”
Beyond the drink’s abundance of probiotics, widely shown to boost gut health, and the myriad benefits of local honey, the inebriation that comes with the drink is uplifting and expansive, Fred Lucas said, nothing like the depressive feel often associated with alcohol.
The origins of jun are mysterious, though it may have come from northern China and Tibet. Fred Lucas, 38, was introduced to it about 12 years ago in Northern California, where he lived on a homestead property owned by a woman known as a guru in the art of jun. She’d sell produce at the farmers market, but those in the know would pop around back for jun and raw goat’s milk products. Before he moved away, she shared her jun culture with him.
Growing up in California’s Central Valley, Fred and Andrew — two of six children — had visited Santa Fe frequently because their father designed Southwestern jewelry. That famous Santa Fe pull persisted into adulthood, and Fred Lucas moved here in 2010, with Andrew Lucas, 30, following suit in 2015 and starting to brew jun as well. They met Gonzales at a party, and he was captivated by the beverage and the chance at a challenge.
“I loved the drink,” said Gonzales, 31, “and it was so fun starting with nothing and building from there.”
Leaf & Hive offers three varieties of its honeybrew on tap: the original, with a base of oolong tea; a ginger version with a kick of spice; and a sweeter flower option with hibiscus and botanicals. All are $7 for a 4-ounce pour and clock in at 6 percent ABV. Leaf & Hive eventually will add seasonal options and hopes to begin bottling this summer.
The taproom also offer New Mexico beers, sparkling wine and cider as well as a range of nonalcoholic products.
Patrons are welcome to bring in takeout — and honeybrew pairs especially well with sushi and tacos, the owners said.
The trio acquired their small space in the Richards Avenue Business Park in August 2017 and opened the doors Feb. 1, after spreading the word about their product and building a loyal following at parties and pop-ups across town.
The centerpiece of the space is the striking bar, crafted from reclaimed barn wood and a glossy 18-foot-long slab of ponderosa pine. Behind it, a projector animates the menu against the dark gray back wall above the row of taps.
The taproom brings all manner of music to its corner stage, which is a mere 4 feet by 8 feet. But musicians have told the owners they love the intimacy of the tiny, packed bar area.
“It feels like some hole-in-the-wall club in New York,” Fred Lucas said.
Leaf & Hive is less than a five-minute walk from Meow Wolf, and they often book bands that complement the acts appearing at the larger venue. Staff at Meow Wolf’s colorful Float Cafe often send patrons off in search of honeybrew. (They enjoy similar reciprocity with nearby breweries Rowley Farmhouse Ales and Tumbleroot.)
And Leaf & Hive’s ethos dovetails nicely with the creative juggernaut just down the road.
“We’re building a vibe and creating a culture around the drink,” Andrew Lucas said. “It’s more than just the product. It’s a vehicle to promote the arts, music, culture.”
Those experiences, Fred Lucas said, in turn strengthen the business.
“The double benefit is that we get this culture building, and people come into the space, and you have these super fun events, and they’re drinking the product — it’s fueling the experience but also building rapport with the products,” he said. “It’s all tied into this living, evolving culture. And we’re doing it all grassroots-style — and it’s working.”