View Full Version : Kombucha Tea
So much has been printed lately about the health benefits of the tea I thought we better try brewing a batch. Bought a starter kit at Vitamin Cottage and have two 1/2 gallon jars starting to brew. No idea if we will like a more mild batch that should be ready in a week or so or the fully leaded version that takes three weeks so we're going for one of each. Anyone else here making this witch's brew?
My physician has prescribed it as part of a rotating set of fermented foods (others include Kefir, kimchee, miso, sauerkraut, tempeh) to rebuild colonies of bacteria killed by colitis. I'm not particularly happy with the sour taste of the kombucha, but it is drinkable.
It reminds me a lot of beer. I buy Townshend's Tea Company white rose flavor occasionally. I would try making it if I didn't have visions of being overrun by scobies, like something out of The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
My physician has prescribed it as part of a rotating set of fermented foods (others include Kefir, kimchee, miso, sauerkraut, tempeh) to rebuild colonies of bacteria killed by colitis. I'm not particularly happy with the sour taste of the kombucha, but it is drinkable.
Seriously! That is my kind of prescription!!!
I make gallons of sun tea using all kinds of fruits and herbs from the garden. For example, black tea with black cherries and sage and green tea with peach tea, rosemary and ginger are the latest. I don't know of any reason you couldn't do the same thing with the kombucha to help mask some of the funk. Guess we'll find out.
I'm a bit paranoid about getting it right, since getting it wrong can be hazardous. So so far I've left the brewing to the experts, but I was thinking about getting a kit (http://www.kombuchakamp.com/). The price dissuades me.
Just FYI, our starter "kit" was $12. It included a large tea bag that would make a gallon of tea and a pouch with pre-made kombucha and a piece of a SCOBY. We already had 1/2 gallon jars.
We've made other fermented foods (notably kimchee and krauts) and have found it to be a pretty simple process. You obviously want to insure the vessels start out sterile and things stay as clean as possible, but from what we've seen so far the process isn't terribly picky. I think kimchee was traditionally buried in in clay pots the ground so its not a process that will get out of hand on the kitchen counter as long as you keep an eye on it.
I would like to try it; I've been buying 1/2 gallons at the farmers market but the season is over in a few weeks. The vendor I buy from has such intriguing "flavors." Right now I'm loving the Pear-Fennel. She also has some with cacao, cherry, lavendar...
Like bUU, I'd be afraid of getting it wrong.
Well I don't know about Kombucha, but I like to make shrub in the fall from pears. It has mostly vinegar in it so there is a fermented drink. I like coconut vinegar in it. My favorite so far is pear/thai basil. A shot or so of shrub in club soda is so refreshing. I think this fall I'll try agave for the sweetener.
Fermenting food (pickles, sauerkraut, kombucha,...) really has only two critical rules: the percentage of salt constituing the brine and keeping the food below the water line. Both of those regulate the growth of the bacteria that do the fermenting (and impede it). It is 99-44/100% of the time obvious that something has gone wrong in the fermentation process so you can avoid the truly life-threatening mistakes.
So try a ferment! Kombucha, pickles (not just cucumbers!),... It's not hard to start; it's much simpler (IMHO) than canning (which requires specific temperatures and sterile tools), and the results are good for you.
Peggy, we have pears and Thai basil (at least until Friday night's possible frost!). I would LOVE your recipe for that shrub!!! I've never made that before and just heard about it for the first time a little while back so I'm really curious about it.
My Scoby arrived this morning, my dd has named him Boris! It came with the right amount of liquid to start off a 1.5 litre batch. We used a green tea and raw cane sugar base and he is floating away in the jar. I will report our successes or failures, hopefully we will be hearing the pitter-patter of tiny scobies soon!
I have started the Kombucha and added the sugar and the Scoby when it was cool but it is not bubbling, how do you know if it is actually working?
Mine's been slowly growing for about a week. Stash it somewhere nice and warm and try to let it go for a while. A watched tea never ferments...
Peggy, we have pears and Thai basil (at least until Friday night's possible frost!). I would LOVE your recipe for that shrub!!! I've never made that before and just heard about it for the first time a little while back so I'm really curious about it.
Gregg, here you go..Ripe pears, peeled, cored and diced. A handful of thai basil leaves (more or less) sugar or honey and coconut vinegar.
Put the diced pears and basil in a wide mouth glass jar. I have a glass gallon jug I use with a tight fitting lid.
For every cup of fruit add about 1/2 cup sugar. You can use white cane sugar or honey. I've tried both but I prefer the cane sugar because I'm not particularly fond of honey and it's such a strong taste. Actually, I think I used mostly cane and a bit of honey. I've never tried brown sugar but that might be an interesting experiment.
Mash this up a bit and cover it and let set for a bit. I let mine set about 8 hours.
Cover the mash with coconut vinegar and put on a tight lid. You can use other vinegar but I liked the coconut best.
(you can add a half vanilla bean now or some vanilla extract if you wish)
Now here is where you can get conflicting info. Actually Steve is probably right, if you keep all the solids under the vinegar then bad stuff won't grow, and I probably did, but I still kept mine in the fridge while it was making. But many recipes say you can just leave this on your counter for a week. Shake it a couple of times a day and after a week strain it and bottle. This I also kept in the fridge.
I love to add a shot or two to a glass of cold club soda. So refreshing! I think there are some cocktails people make with shrubs but I've never tried any.
Mmmm...now I'm thinking, and wanting shrub!:)
I was just looking through my notes and saw that for every 4 cups of diced fruit I added 2 cups cane sugar and 1 cup honey plus 1/4 cup torn basil leaves.
Two summers ago I did. Not 100% positive, but I belive it made me ill. Perhaps it was all the fermented foods I was making however. Kifer, Yogurt and Kombucha. I made a choice that the professionals were better at the safety and handling then I was.
My Granny used to make Blackberry vinegar, which sounds a a lot like your shrub. Delicious on pancakes!
my kombucha now has a Scoby forming on the top - looking good!
My first taste of Kombucha today, I think I quite like it! I now have 2 scobies so 2 jars fermenting. Tastes fruity but with a slight vinegar tone. Hopefully It may bring down my cholesterol.
Thanks for the recipe peggy! I'm going to give it a try.
I have two batches going now. The first batch was just an amalgam of the dregs of two or three commercial brands and not enough sugar. I started it in early January, and it didn't do much--and then I noticed something was growing in it. Then I dropped it on the floor and spilled half of it and noticed that it had grown a proper scoby. I had a small glass today (of course it was a small glass, I had spilled half of it...) and though it didn't have any fizz, it definitely tasted like kombucha. I ordered a starter kit from Amazon/Backyard Preserves. It's a lovely green tea/jasmine presentation with all you need but the jar. I have high hopes for that one. Kombucha brewing seems to be a bit of an art.
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