Kombucha Tea

Kombucha {pronounced come-boo-cha} is produced by fermenting tea using a "symbiotic 'colony' of bacteria and yeast" (SCOBY).  I know it has a sort of funny name, but Kombucha is an ancient drink that can be traced back to Russian and Chinese roots.  It is a fermented tea.The fermentation loads the tea with natural probiotics, which are good for your digestion, your gut, immunity and aids in nutrient assimilation into your body.  In fact, Kombucha is known as a ‘cure all’ drink, but  it’s not that it cures you, it actually boosts your own immunity so well, your body is healthier and stronger in fighting off everything from infection to cancer.

I am so excited to share how to make your own homemade Kombucha for you and your family to enjoy :} It is really easy and only takes a little of your time about once a week. Here are step by Step instructions with photos. 

What you need: 

1.  1 cup sugar 

2.  A box of  black or green tea. 8 bags per brew  (We think the black tea Kombucha tastes much better)
3. a SCOBY 

4.Glass jar (only glass, so not with a plastic spigot, the fermentation process can eat plastic)

5. 1-2 cups starter liquid 

6. Paper towels

7. A rubber band  

8. Large glass container to hold finished tea {you may need two if you do not plan to do a 2nd fermentation}

 Boil a pot of water

 Right at boiling point remove from heat and add 8 tea bags and let steep 10 minutes ~Do not squeeze tea bags when you remove them, this can cause a bitter taste in all teas

Add your one cup of sugar and stir until dissolved

 Pour your hot tea in the glass jug

 Fill almost to the top with cold water leaving room for SCOBY and starter liquid. Let this tea come to room temperature before continuing

 Add your SCOBY

 She may float, sink or hang in the middle all positions are fine

 Add your starter liquid right on top

 Congratulations, you did it :}

 Now, just add a doubled over paper towel

 and secure with your rubber band

 I always add the date so I don't forget which day I started the brew

Put the jar in a semi-dark spot with no direct sunlight and ideally at 70-85 F temp.
Our house is usually a tad cooler than this, so we just have to wait a bit longer for fermentation as it slows down at cooler temps.  Then your job is DONE for a bit, and the SCOBY takes over.  It eats and ferments the sugar and caffeine while creating a fizzy, probiotic, delicious drink for you as it sits.

  Ferment for 5-7 days. 

To really know if your kombucha is done –> taste it!

Stick a straw in and pull out some to taste. 

• If it tastes kind of like apple cider (tangy, sweet, and fermenty), it’s finished.
• If it tastes too sweet, it’s not finished.
• If it tastes vinegary, you’ve left it too long.

 Mine is ALWAYS done on day 7. So I will ferment Sunday to Sunday or Monday to Monday or whatever day you start. So I never have to taste it anymore. 

 Next steps after a week of fermenting....

 

Pull out your SCOBY's and place on glass. There should be two because your mother SCOBY had a baby. The baby is what you would give to a friend if they wanted to start brewing also. {also 1-2 cups of your tea you just fermented}

You will also need 1-2 Cups of starter liquid poured out into a glass holding cup. 

Then Pour the tea through a mesh strainer into your glass storage container.

 And this is how much you will have. Put all of this in your fridge and it is ready to drink.

If you plan to do a 2nd fermentation with some tea just fill one container and move to fridge. 

Then fill your 2f bottles with the remaining tea and add any fruit you like to give your tea flavor and extra fizz. I leave my 2f for about 4 days before I drink it :} 

This is how many frozen organic Blueberries I added to my 2f. I will leave this for 4 days and burp the top once a day.

My blueberry infused 2f :} So yummy 

 And as soon as you pour all of your tea out of the large glass jug you begin the process over by brewing your sweet tea and following the same steps again. Its that easy :]

When you go to drink your Kombucha from the fridge I recommend straining through a paper towel into your cup so you do not get any floaters so to speak. :}  

If your fermentation's are brewing too fast and you want to hold off a couple days to begin your next brew you can simply leave your SCOBY's in the starter liquid and begin again when you are ready. She will continue to have babies so make sure you leave enough liquid to cover all the SCOBYs in the jar. This is actually called a SCOBY hotel lol If the liquid is low you will need to feed it with more sweet tea.

 Since this will detox you, if you do not already drink it on a daily basis then you want to start slow with a half glass and work your way to more and more as the days pass. 
Also, never use any soaps on any of the containers. Just simply rinse with water or just rinse out with vinegar. Also make sure your hands are clean when handling the SCOBY but free of soaps as well.
 

Hope you all found this useful. Please comment with any questions you may have. :}

Live, Laugh, Love,

Lana