Hey new friends, my name is Lena and I blog over at Root & Blossom. Kelly brought up the idea of us doing a post swap a while back and I was more than thrilled to participate! I invite you to pop on by and introduce yourself!
Have you heard of kombucha yet? Kom-what-a you ask? Kom-boo-cha, kombucha. In my own words kombucha is a fermented and naturally carbonated tea most commonly brewed from black tea. To actually ferment the black tea a colony of bacteria and yeast known as a scoby (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria andYeast) or mother sits in the sugared tea for 1 to 2 weeks. A scoby is also referred to as a mushroom for its gelatin and sponge look and feel. Hold up, scoby? Bacteria? What? I know, it all sounds terribly complex, confusing, and probably gross but please stick with me.
Kombucha is a fermented tea that is packed with probiotics developed through the fermentation process. Kombucha is believe to be great for digestion as well as your immune system.
I’ve known of kombucha for almost a year now but have only been brewing and drinking it for about 7 months. Kombucha is starting to be stocked more in “normal” grocery stores but is still far cheaper to home brew. Since I began drinking kombucha my hunger has regulated, I haven’t been sick nearly as much and I have noticed improvements to my skin. Over all my body just feels as if it runs better.
What does it taste like? Well it’s sort of tangy and reminds me of a cider. If fermented too long it can take on the resemblance in taste of apple cider vinegar. You can actually flavor your tea though after the fermentation process to customize it to your taste buds. I like adding frozen blueberries and strawberries or apples and ginger (my current flavor to settle morning sickness). You can also flavor with fruit juices and fresh fruits.
The easiest way to start brewing your own Kombucha is to obtain a scoby and a couple cups of starter tea from a friend but if you don’t have any kombucha brewing friends you can purchase a fresh scoby from I kid you not but from Amazon. You used to be able to grow a scoby from store bought kombucha but because there is traces of alcohol in the kombucha as a result of the fermentation, laws came falling down on kombucha businesses in order to sell in grocery stores as non-alcoholic so they did something to their kombucha that makes it nearly impossible to grow a scoby from it.
Yes, there is alcohol in kombucha. The amount of alcohol present is so minuscule that it isn’t even really worth mentioning. Sure if you ferment for several months you’d get alcohol but by then it would be so fermented you probably wouldn’t even be able to swallow it. I drank kombucha while breast feeding, am drinking it while pregnant and ever share it with my toddler.
Okay so you have your scoby or at least know how your are going to get it, now what? Well at this point I’ll direct you to a blog post that I used to successfully brew my own tea! The only thing I can think to tell you is that you can’t always depend on number of days to know when it’s time to harvest your tea. For example in the states I knew my tea was at the perfect mix of tang and sweet at 10 days but here in Japan after 10 days it’s still too sweet. Depending on the weather, temperature and where your tea is fermenting will dictate how long you’ll need to ferment. The post suggest to begin tasting your tea after 7 days and continue to do so on a daily basis until it reaches a balance you like.
The scoby can be a little much for most people to get on board with and the process isn’t for everyone but I do know I feel a difference when I’m drinking it regularly and when I’m not.
I hope you found this informative and if you have any Kombucha flavors or tips and trick please let me know!
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Steve Jones says
I just got introduced to Kombucha
I love it
http://brewdrkombucha.com/wholesale-kombucha/