Kombucha is a fermented sweet tea. It has a bit of a vinegary taste with some fizz. When aged, it can taste somewhat similar to a homebrew beer without the depressing effects of the alcohol: it's energizing instead of relaxing.
I make a batch with:
3 quarts filtered water
4 organic black tea bags
1 cup white granulated sugar
pinch sea salt
1/2 cup starter and a "mushroom"
Bring the water to boil in a stainless steel or Pyrex container. Turn off heat. Add sugar, salt, and tea. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Let sit at room temperature until completely cooled; this may take 8-12 hours.
Remove tea bags or strain out loose tea. Put tea into a glass jar or Pyrex bowl; do not use plastic. A wider mouth is good. I usually use a glass "cracker jar" in which the mouth is nearly as wide as the height. Sometimes I use a sun tea jar (without a spigot!). When I make half-batches or quarter-batches, sometimes I use a wide-mouth Mason jar. The point is that you want there to be a significant opening for air.
Add a kombucha "mushroom" that you get from a friend. (I've heard that you can buy them off the internet, but I can't imagine how a living organism can get shipped through the mail very well.) Also add 1/2 cup of finished kombucha tea. Cover jar with a light cloth. Label jar with the date you started it fermenting, and sit it in a cool, dark place in the house. (Not cool like in the refrigerator, but cool like in the basement.) It should not be in a cupboard, but be fermenting in a place with air flow. If the kombucha is fermenting in a pyrex bowl, you might crisscross masking tape over the top of the bowl so that the cloth does not dip down into the tea.
Ferment for 7-10 days. In the amount I make, with the width of my jar openings, in the temperature where I let it sit, mine almost always takes 8 days.
Smaller recipes can be made with 3 cups water, 1 tea bag, 1/4 cup sugar, a little salt, and 2 Tbsp starter tea.
Rather than using tea bags, I use a loose tea. It took me a while to figure out that I need a slightly rounded tablespoon of leaf tea to equal a tea bag. When I get to the bottom of a bag of tea leaves, I noticed that the leaves are broken down and I have more crumbs/dust and thus need much less tea.
Green tea or oolong tea is sometimes used. The health benefits are greater when black tea is used, however. Don't use herbal teas.
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Did you like it when you first tried it? What are the benefits? When I was sick this spring, I kept thinking I should try something like this. Anyway to try some at CCA?
ReplyDeleteI want to try it. I do. It just sounds scaaaary.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine how a living organism can get shipped through the mail very well.
ReplyDeleteWell....they send chicks via the mail... lol.
So, what do you mean by "energizing?" Like an energy drink? Or does it just make ya feel good? Is it cumulative/lasting, or like a rush?
Scary, Melynda? What's scary?
ReplyDeleteGlenda, no, I didn't like it when I first tried it. But neither did I detest it. I have met a couple of people who actually like it right off the bat, but they are rare. Most people dislike it, and it grows on them. The ones who hate anything sour (like pickles) and who want to barf when they first taste it, well, it doesn't seem to grow on them.
As for benefits, the mini-answer is that it's a liver detoxifier. I'll tell you more in another post. But right now I have to get my Heidi to the airport.
Scott -- chicks in the mail? Oh my goodness!
Not a rush. Just that it cumulatively seems to make a difference in how much energy I have.
I am a big baby when it comes to trying things that are MUCH more different than I would normally eat or drink. I wouldn't say I am picky but I usually don't do mushrooms. Or much fish but the little fish I do eat is the only seafood that will ever go in my mouth. No game either.
ReplyDeleteHi Susan,
ReplyDeleteI am new to brewing, only on my second generation. I had a question regarding the salt as a part of your recipe. The recipe that I am following is very similar to yours. Only difference is salt. I was wondering what purpose does the salt serve in the brew?
Thanks for all the wonderful information you have provided on this topic.
-Igor
From what I read that accompanied the recipe, it was just for the purpose of adding a wee touch of minerals. That's the reason for its being RealSalt or Celtic sea salt.
ReplyDelete